Northern Lights: My Grown-Up Holiday List
The days are getting much shorter here in the Northern Hemisphere, and we are approaching another solstice. This is a time of cheerful lights, caroling songs, and celebrating with family and friends.
It is also the time for spiritual reflection on the end of one year and the birth of a new one.
As part of this reflection, I would like to share some of my ‘grown up’ wishes for the myeloma community.
At the very top of my holiday wish list is a cure for myeloma. Although better treatments and ever improving medical care have led to improvements in survival times and quality of life for patients, too many people are still lost to this disease.
I therefore sincerely hope that important research work continues until a cure for myeloma is found; if not a cure just yet, then at least a way of staying in a ‘chronic’ or ‘stable’ and manageable condition.
Another wish I have is that myeloma be diagnosed earlier. Higher awareness amongst patients and their health care providers of the signs and symptoms of myeloma will lead to less suffering by avoiding the worst effects of the disease for us patients. It could also make the treatments more effective and thus lead to better outcomes for us..
I also hope that things will become easier for health care professionals. I am sure it is not easy to have to deliver heartbreaking news to very sick people and their caregivers. As treatments improve, and patients achieve better outcomes, this will also ease the their jobs.
My ‘grown up’ wish list also includes the wish that we use our current knowledge about carcinogens in our workplace, home, and outdoor environments to lower cancer rates and to protect future generations. Applaudable efforts are already being made in that regard. Think of improvements such as a continuing decrease in the rates of lung cancer due to stricter laws on smoking in buildings, airplanes, and public transportation. The widespread use of Agent Orange half a century ago was another example; it’s a dioxin that was not known at the time to be carcinogenic, but has been implicated in causing myeloma. Wouldn’t it be nice if the rates of myeloma could be decreased by avoiding carcinogens?
Another item on my list is that we use our knowledge about nutrition and exercise to further prevent many cancers, including myeloma, and to improve our quality of life. Exercise and eating a healthy diet have been associated with so many health benefits, and I hope we all consider following the current guidelines.
For me and my fellow Canadians, I wish that the drug approval process for well-tested drugs that are already approved elsewhere will be changed so that more of the newer myeloma drugs will be available for patients here sooner. After all, the more “chocolates in the treatment box,” the greater the capacity for our doctors to offer effective treatments outside of the realm of clinical trials and ‘special access’ programs.
I also hope and wish that our universal health care system continues to offer good care and is adequately funded by our government, which really comes down to the taxpayers taking an interest in that issue.
And last but not least, I wish that all of us myeloma patients may experience successful treatment and improved health next year, no matter where we live, or at what stage our cancers were diagnosed at!
Do you have any wishes you would want to add to this list?
Sending all best wishes your way for the holiday season. May you and yours have a Happy New Year, too!
───────────────── ♦ ─────────────────
The quotation for this month is an excerpt from the song "My Grownup Christmas Wish," lyrics and music by David Foster and Linda Thompson-Jenner: "As children we believed the grandest sight to see, was something lovely wrapped beneath our tree. Well, heaven surely knows that packages and bows can never heal a hurting human soul.”
Nancy Shamanna is a multiple myeloma patient and a columnist at The Myeloma Beacon. You can view a list of her columns here.
If you are interested in writing a regular column to be published by The Myeloma Beacon, please contact the Beacon team at .
Very nice article, Nancy. My wish is that I'm a better person in the coming year than I was this year. May God bless all of us for as long as we live.
marvin
Hi, Nancy,
I loved your article. I echo every wish you have. I am wishing all caregivers a year with lighter burdens whatever they may be.
I'm wishing every myeloma family peace in this wonderful season and a very happy new year!! May 2014 bring us one year closer to the cure.
Cindy
What a joy to read, Nancy. As adults, we need to be reminded to honor our "wish lists." You've covered all of mine; I thank YOU for sharing your energy and insight with all of us. You are truly a blessing. God is looking out for us, and I do pray for a cure in this coming year.
Patty
Thank you very much for your comments, Marvin, Cindy and Patty! Although there is sadness in our community of myeloma patients and caregivers, I think that there is a lot of hope too!
Thank you Nancy for a wonderful grown up wish list for us MM patients. As we get further along in our disease process, may we all be grateful for the simple blessings of the presence and support of our family, friends, and each other.
I am glad that you included primary prevention on your list. That is crucial for all cancers ... and many other diseases. It is estimated that more than 80% of cancers are environmentally related. But even the expression of most genetic diseases is determined by our environment, through epigenetics. More research is certainly needed in this regard, and ALL chemicals introduced into our environment need to be evaluated for carcinogenicity and teratogenicity (causing birth defects).
Despite a much improved prognosis for most MM patients at diagnosis, a true cure remains an elusive goal. Life expectancy for myeloma patients has more than doubled in the past decade, mostly due to novel agent chemotherapy. But I am convinced that a cure will be possible for most MM patients through some form of immunotherapy, be it monoclonal antibodies, CAR-T cells, vaccines, or other approaches. And my Canadian wife Liba also wishes that each Canadian province will make the latest medical advances available to all.
May you have a wonderful holiday, and a happy, healthy 2015, back in remission! Jan
Thanks, Jan and Liba, for your well wishes. I hope all goes well for your recovery, Jan! If you do write a column about your CAR-T therapy, that would be very interesting!
I feel fortunate now, since the strong Revlimid / dex treatment is really pushing down my M protein and SFLC ratio!
Enjoy your holiday season!
You nailed it, Nancy! This reflects many of our wishes as we deal with myeloma. Thank you!
Sue
Thanks Sue. I really enjoy working with you in our support group! I hope we get lots more done in 2015, and hope you have a nice holiday season!