Patient's Perspective: Cindy Chmielewski

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Lizzie Smith- We Can Do More and Will Do More!

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Myeloma warrior, fierce advocate and my friend Lizzie passed away yesterday. I am still shocked and saddened by this news.  Lizzie was young. She was a fighter and well educated about myeloma. Lizzie was full of life! She sought the advice of several myeloma specialists and participated in clinical trials. She ate healthy and exercised. She did everything right. How can she be gone?  Lizzie's myeloma was aggressive and didn't respond well to treatment. No matter what protocol Lizzie tried her myeloma returned often with a vengeance. Although a lot of progress has been made in the last decade in understanding the biology of myeloma and developing new therapies to treat this cancer, more research is needed to help researchers fully understand the various subgroups of myeloma and how to best treat each unique subgroup. We must do more so people diagnosed with high risk myeloma live long lives and die of old age.  How can we do more?  We can use ou...
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My Biggest Decision- EVER

Deciding to retire from teaching was the biggest decision I EVER made. I still think back on occasion and question my choice.  I do miss teaching. I miss the students.  I miss my collleagues.  I miss the wonder I saw in my students eyes when we explored science. I miss seeing the world through a 10 year olds eyes. The only thing I don't miss is grading papers.  I decided to retire because I knew I couldn't give my all to the classroom. I knew I would have to take time away from my classroom to have my treatment and visit doctors.  I knew that there would be days that I would have to go to school on a dex high or a dex crash and my students would have to deal with a less then pleasant  Mrs. C.  I knew that during cold and flu season my students would come to school sick and tell me that they didn't feel good as they proceeded to get sick over my desk.  I knew that my chemobrain would interfer with my ability to multi-task in the classroom. I knew t...
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3 Days- 72 Hours

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A lot can happen in three days. I could drive from my home in New Jersey to California in 3 days.  In the New Testament Jesus told the Jewish populace at the Temple, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."  It will take three days to have the hardwood floors in my home refinished. It never occurred to me that when I hung up the phone after chatting with Pat Killingsworth three days ago it would be the last time we would be chatting.  Pat was a blogger, a mentor, an advocate, but most of all a dear friend.  I met Pat several years ago at a Patient Ambassador training and grew to admire him the more I got to know him. Pat's mission was to educate the myeloma community.  He accomplished that and much more through is blogs, books, speaking engagements and his beloved Beach Party. Pat was an unique individual. He put others above himself.  He blogged EVERYDAY. Pat often pushed himself to publish a blog post from his hospital bed...
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