A year or so ago, the International Myeloma Foundation asked me to be a "Patient-to-Patient" volunteer. This is a free service where the foundation matches up a newly diagnosed patient with one of us old-timers. (Yeah, I'm an old-timer!) We talk on the phone, and the old-timer is supposed to give the newbie information and advice and support and all of that good stuff.
Anyway, I signed up for this, and then nobody ever called me, until today. I talked to a really nice 69-year-old man who was just diagnosed with smoldering MM and admitted -- understandably -- that he was scared and upset. After you get diagnosed with myeloma, you get all of these horrifying statistics thrown at you. The most common one is that you have three years to live. Why do they use these statistics anymore? Why? They suck. Anyway, I think after this man talked to me and realized that I've been around for almost three years and I'm not at death's door, or anywhere near death's door, he felt much, much better. I felt glad that I could help.
No comments:
Post a Comment