Erika Myrvik - Support with Medical Costs
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Erika Myrvik, at 28 years old, is one of the youngest people to be diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Statistically, less than 0.3 % of all multiple myeloma patients are under 30 years old. Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer, or tumor of the bone marrow, involving white blood cells that produce a distinctive destructive protein in the blood. This GoFundMe page is entirely dedicated to helping Erika Myrvik pay her health and medical bills.
Since October, Erika has been in a great deal of physical pain. Initially it was thought to be caused by the sudden transition to working from home full-time or the lack of physical activity in quarantine brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. She began eating clean, attending weekly physical therapy and massage appointments, and focused entirely on caring for her body and mind—unfortunately, nothing helped. Her symptoms of joint and bone pain disguised themselves at first as hypermobility syndrome but, instead of getting better, they continued to worsen.
After further lab work was done, her medical team saw her serum protein was dramatically elevated and that she was anemic, pointing to multiple myeloma. They were utterly shocked given her age but did further studies with a bone marrow biopsy to confirm the diagnosis that was feared.
Her journey will be long and perilous, as her diagnosis is lifelong. It is treatable, but not curable. The deterioration in bone mass is wreaking havoc on her mobility with walking becoming exceedingly difficult, as well as extremely painful. Her loss of bone is extensive, causing multiple fractures as the cancer eats away at her bones. She has had a plate placed in her left arm to prevent it from fracturing, and her sternum, that has fractured twice, has also been recently stabilized with a plate.
There will be multiple surgeries in her future, 16 weeks of chemotherapy, radiation to help stop the spread of cancer in her arms and legs, and an extensive lifelong, multi-drug regimen. With the hope of getting her cancer under control, they will perform a bone marrow transplant, chemically killing off all her bone marrow, further placing her at grave risk due to infection. Then after harvesting her own stem cells, returning them to her to replace what had been destroyed, in hopes of full remission.
She was about to complete her final class prior to college graduation but had to withdraw urgently to address her deteriorating health. She is currently on short term disability from work and hopes to go back as soon as she is able, but her medical bills are mounting, and maintaining health insurance has become a major focus.
Costs for this disease will continue over her lifetime. So far, radiation with 10 treatments (just the beginning) for her arm and legs totals $37,000. Her chemotherapy expense is $28,000 weekly per treatment. Her bone strengthening medication is $8,300/treatment. Surgery for her most recent left arm plate placement was $120,000, and we have yet to see the bills for her sternum plate surgery in early February, which included 2 weeks of hospitalization.
We really want Erika to focus all her attention and energy on getting well and going into remission, not on how she is going to address her overwhelming medical and financial challenges.
On behalf of Erika and her family, we appreciate any financial support, no matter how small, that you can offer. She is so appreciative of the outpouring of love, prayers, meals and support shown to her over these past few weeks. We are all beyond grateful.
In addition, Erika has started an Instagram blog to document her journey, provide personalized updates, and raise awareness for her condition. You can follow along at www.instagram.com/mymultiplemyeloma.
Since October, Erika has been in a great deal of physical pain. Initially it was thought to be caused by the sudden transition to working from home full-time or the lack of physical activity in quarantine brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. She began eating clean, attending weekly physical therapy and massage appointments, and focused entirely on caring for her body and mind—unfortunately, nothing helped. Her symptoms of joint and bone pain disguised themselves at first as hypermobility syndrome but, instead of getting better, they continued to worsen.
After further lab work was done, her medical team saw her serum protein was dramatically elevated and that she was anemic, pointing to multiple myeloma. They were utterly shocked given her age but did further studies with a bone marrow biopsy to confirm the diagnosis that was feared.
Her journey will be long and perilous, as her diagnosis is lifelong. It is treatable, but not curable. The deterioration in bone mass is wreaking havoc on her mobility with walking becoming exceedingly difficult, as well as extremely painful. Her loss of bone is extensive, causing multiple fractures as the cancer eats away at her bones. She has had a plate placed in her left arm to prevent it from fracturing, and her sternum, that has fractured twice, has also been recently stabilized with a plate.
There will be multiple surgeries in her future, 16 weeks of chemotherapy, radiation to help stop the spread of cancer in her arms and legs, and an extensive lifelong, multi-drug regimen. With the hope of getting her cancer under control, they will perform a bone marrow transplant, chemically killing off all her bone marrow, further placing her at grave risk due to infection. Then after harvesting her own stem cells, returning them to her to replace what had been destroyed, in hopes of full remission.
She was about to complete her final class prior to college graduation but had to withdraw urgently to address her deteriorating health. She is currently on short term disability from work and hopes to go back as soon as she is able, but her medical bills are mounting, and maintaining health insurance has become a major focus.
Costs for this disease will continue over her lifetime. So far, radiation with 10 treatments (just the beginning) for her arm and legs totals $37,000. Her chemotherapy expense is $28,000 weekly per treatment. Her bone strengthening medication is $8,300/treatment. Surgery for her most recent left arm plate placement was $120,000, and we have yet to see the bills for her sternum plate surgery in early February, which included 2 weeks of hospitalization.
We really want Erika to focus all her attention and energy on getting well and going into remission, not on how she is going to address her overwhelming medical and financial challenges.
On behalf of Erika and her family, we appreciate any financial support, no matter how small, that you can offer. She is so appreciative of the outpouring of love, prayers, meals and support shown to her over these past few weeks. We are all beyond grateful.
In addition, Erika has started an Instagram blog to document her journey, provide personalized updates, and raise awareness for her condition. You can follow along at www.instagram.com/mymultiplemyeloma.
Fundraising team (2)
Bob Melikian
Organizer
Scottsdale, AZ
Erika Myrvik
Beneficiary
Mia Myrvik
Team member
