Elizabeth is a coworker and friend of mine. She is a wife to Mark and mother to 13 year old twins , Claire and Mason. This is her story in her words:

In October 2019 we found the compression fracture in my L3 without an explanation as for why.  A week later I was admitted to Riverside and after days of testing, I was diagnosed with Solitary Plasmacytoma.  After almost 2 weeks in the hospital & surgery I now have an L1-L5 fusion & cadaver bone was used to fill in my L3.  I spent the next month recovering and then we started my 25 radiation treatments.  Just over a year later and feeling the best I have in a year and half, in a routine follow up MRI in December they found 2 lesions in my right femur.  Thankfully after a PET scan to check the rest of my body there are only these 2 spots but they’ve now labeled me as Multiple Myeloma, an incurable blood disease.  The road ahead includes 4-6 months of weekly chemo & steroids.   Then in the Fall, I’ll have an autologous stem cell transplant, my own stem cells are removed from my bone marrow or peripheral blood before the transplant and frozen.  I’ll go into the hospital for 2 weeks, I’ll have what the Dr. calls a super chemo and insert my own cells back into my body.  This will have me out of work for a minimum of a month but more likely 3-4 months while my body is trying to recover and build back up my immunities.

This year is going to be extremely difficult for Elizabeth and her family. If we can lessen the financial burden of medical expenses and other bills during this time, that will help. She has told me that while she has processed her diagnosis, her worry is for her husband and children. As mothers and wives, a lot of women can relate. We just want to see our kids grown and our spouse be able to survive if something happened. Let's try to reduce the worry for her as she begins her fight!