By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
The September 19 Multiple Myeloma March in Cobourg (the third annual one in this town) aims to draw attention to the second-most-common form of incurable blood cancer – and raise funds that might someday find that cure.
Cobourg resident Rebecca Flint will be marching in honour of her father George, who lived only weeks after getting his diagnosis in 2018. She will march with her stepmother Sharon Ridge, with whom she marched in Kingston last year – a properly-distanced COVID-aware event that happened to take place in the rain.
George retired from his career as an urban planner for the City of Richmond Hill at the end of 2017. He was only 55 – in retrospect, Sharon said, that’s a good thing since he didn’t make it to his 58th birthday.
George cultivated a healthy lifestyle, with plenty of golf and curling, so he wasn’t idle. He began to feel some of the common symptoms of the disease he would soon be diagnosed with, like fatigue and aching muscles.
In his late teens, he’d had scoliosis and arthritis, reporting periodically to a chiropractor for adjustments in the years since. He figured that was the problem.
Looking back, the degree of the trouble he was experiencing was more significant than that.
Sharon remembers finishing a curling game with him and complaining about how uncomfortable her new broom was. He uncharacteristically lost his temper. He said he was tired of hearing about other people’s pain when he lived with pain every day of his life.
Visiting a home show, he got the chance to try one of those new full-body-massage chairs. Only the $10,000 price tag prevented his buying one, though he did locate a less expensive massage device he would use frequently on his arm and back.
In retrospect, Sharon realizes that her husband seemed to have a heating pad around his neck quite frequently. And she recalls his comment on a pain-relief cream that seemed to be quite effective – that he wished he could take a bath in it.
The situation intensified in April, when he played a kick-off game in the men’s golf league he started up. He came home happy but exhausted from a nine-hole game. Then he helped his university-student daughter move and came home completely worn out.
This kind of persistent fatigue, Sharon has since learned, is characteristic of kidney failure. It seems evident now that his kidneys had begun to shut down.
It was that month in which he became so debilitated that he was transported to hospital by ambulance. The diagnosis was flu and he was discharged.
Less than a day later, his symptoms intensified and he was back in hospital. This time he was seen by a doctor who had recently lost his mother to a little-known and incurable blood cancer called multiple myeloma. George’s symptoms caused him to order specialized blood tests and X-rays – the myeloma diagnosis was the result.
The doctor gave them plenty of information and encouraged them to research on-line – as long as they restricted this research to the Mayo Clinic website.
He also told them many myeloma diagnoses come as the result of a broken back, given the way it weakens bones. They saw this for themselves when George had to be rushed to the emergency room due to a severe coughing fit and chest pains. The X-ray showed rib lesions that she believes were the result of his coughing too hard and fracturing a rib.
George Flint went into retirement a healthy man who should have had years ahead of him to enjoy. Even after his diagnosis, his family hoped things would go the right way and he’d have some good years ahead of him. But things went too quickly to cling to that hope for long. The myeloma moved to his liver, which they discovered when the nausea medication they gave him to counteract the effects of chemotherapy did not seem to work for long.
George died July 21 that same year.
“It’s one of those sneaky cancers. If you are not really aware of it, it can sneak up and be too late,” Sharon said.
As she works to spread the word about this largely-unknown disease, she is also happy for the opportunity to raise funds for on Sept. 19. The Cobourg Multiple Myeloma March is one of 32 taking place across Canada, one which organizers hope will raise $10,000 to help fund research. There is no cure at this time, Sharon pointed out. Meanwhile, nine new Canadians are diagnosed with myeloma each day.
“As we continue to raise awareness of myeloma, we are getting closer to reaching a cure than ever before,” Myeloma Canada Executive Director Martine Ellis said.
“Now is an exciting and encouraging time in myeloma research. There are many new clinical advances being made to help improve the quality and length of life of those living with this disease. That is why it is crucial that we continue to raise funds for research so that, sooner or later, a cure for myeloma will be found.”
This is the 13th year for the Multiple Myeloma March in Canada, with a national fundraising goal of $600,000. Funds raised will support Myeloma Canada’s Myeloma Research Priority Setting Partnership, a unique initiative that uses community input to identify and define future investments in myeloma research, as well as the Canadian Myeloma Research Group, to help further Canadian research, clinical trials and the National Myeloma Database. All investments go toward improving the lives of those living with myeloma, advocating for access to new drug therapies and keeping the needle moving forward toward finding a cure.
For more information about joining the march or making a donation in support, visit https://www.myelomacanada.ca
