Patient's Perspective: Cindy Chmielewski

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Mountain Climbing in Peru

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Can my trip to Peru with A Fresh Chapter be about a week away?   I am filled with mixed emotions.  I am both excited and scared.  I am looking forward to a new adventure, but I am dreading packing for this adventure and the long travel itineraries that I will be doing solo.  I am anxiously anticipating my volunteer assignment, but I am feeling uncertain I will be able to make a difference especially since I don’t speak a word of Spanish.  I feel excited to be making new connections, but worried I won’t remember anyone’s name.  I am eager to have an opportunity to experience a new culture, but nervous that I will get sick.  The list goes on and on. PREPARATIONS I have prepared for the Peru Odyssey by filling out forms, buying supplies, getting vaccinations, reading travel guides and speaking to others who have been on this life changing experience.  I even downloaded Duolingo to try to learn some Spanish.  But the best way I prep...
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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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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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