That’s right.  Every cancer clinic of any size should help promote and sponsor a multiple myeloma support group.  Every one.

In addition to the myeloma support groups I speak to across the country, I attend two local groups here in Florida.

While I was in San Diego at ASH, I covered an IMF activist training meeting.

Fresh off the plane from ASH in San Diego, last night I attended a special support group dinner meeting/seminar, hosted by Lourdes Arvelo with the Tampa area Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

I attended a meeting this afternoon sponsored by the IMF.   The topic: Making sure that sub-q and oral cancer medications are covered  by Medicare and private insurance in the same way that intravenously infused medications are.

Here is good news for a number of my fellow patients and caregivers who feel the direction of most myeloma research is misguided.   They lament all of the time and money being spent trying to make multiple myeloma a “chronic disease,” instead of an all-out push to find a cure.

Yesterday I started my four part series to help patients and caregivers pay for the incredibly high cost of treatment by touching on two possible major sources of funding; the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) co-pay program and the Chronic Relief Fund.

Friday I announced that I Will Be Running A Series Of Articles Next Week, Designed To Help Multiple Myeloma Patients Find Sources Of Financial Aid.

Yesterday I  wrote about how I have been fielding more and more questions from multiple myeloma patients and caregivers about where to find financial assistance.

I don’t know about you, but I am fielding more and more questions from multiple myeloma patients and caregivers about where to find financial assistance.

Yesterday’s post was a bit of a “downer.”  It focused on the potential conflict of interest many of our myeloma docs face as they are blanketed with research data paid for by drug companies.

A reader was excited about this and asked if I would post this research related press release from the MMRF:

I often share updates and requests about political related issues from the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF).  Don’t forget the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) also does political action work to help multiple myeloma and bood cancer patients as well.

When I set out to write my first book, Living with Multiple Myeloma, I pledged to update it each and every year as long as my health would allow. 

I wanted to take a moment and refer you to several multiple myeloma related articles we ran on our other site, http://www.helpwithcancer.org/. this week. 

I really enjoyed meeting all of the multiple myeloma patients and caregivers at Saturday’s support group meeting in Jackson, Mississippi! The group uses a very nice special events room at the Corner Bakery Cafe each month. Wendy Mosier, a nurse in the BMT unit at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, along with Fran from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Camille, the International Myeloma Foundation’s patient leader, organized the gathering. The Health Systems Manager, Millennium Pharmaceuticals rep, Stacey D’Mello, was kind enough to pick me up at the airport and provide munchies for the group. Thanks, Stacey!

I listened to a teleconference today, Myeloma: Progress in Treatment and Side Effect Management. The program featured my new oncologist, Dr. Melissa Alsina, and oncology nurse Kathy Daily.

I attended a very detailed seminar last evening, sponsored by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  Held in Brooksville, Florida (about 45 minutes north of Tampa), the event was hosted by Lourdes Arvelo, Director of  the Suncoast Chapter of the LLS, along with a group of positive and helpful volunteers, led by the very friendly Jack and Linda. Titled, “New Directions for Blood Cancer Therapies, the content leaned heavily toward understanding clinical trials and multiple myeloma therapies.  The speaker was oncologist Dr. Vikas Malhotra from the Florida Cancer Institute.  Dr. Malhotra did an incredibly thourogh job–if anything, his presentation was too detailed for the casual observer.  Here are a few important things I learned during the seminar:

A friend forwarded me this article from the Journal of Leukemia and Lymphoma and the IMF. Looks like good news for relapsed multiple myeloma patients: