You Never Know

I am Isadell Posey, a retired firefighter/lieutenant who worked for the Aurora Fire Department in Aurora, Colorado. I served as a career firefighter/lieutenant for 33 years, protecting life and property.

I arrived at my doctor's office three years after retirement for my annual physical. After my physical was complete, my doctor was pleased with the outcome. Blood work was the only thing left to complete. The day after completing the blood work, I received a message from my doctor asking me to schedule an appointment with an oncology specialist without reason.

I scheduled the appointment and arrived at the oncology department. There, I met with Dr. Kumbla, the oncologist. As she discussed my results with me, she revealed that I have Multiple Myeloma, a cancer in the blood. My heart sank. Cancer is a word that terrifies everyone. Multiple Myeloma is one of the cancers that can affect firefighters due to the hazardous environments in which we work, i.e., smoke and fire.

After the shock, we discussed the plans moving forward. I began taking a weekly dose of chemotherapy and some other cancer medications for the next four weeks. We then discussed doing a stem cell transplant, which sounded unreal to me, but it all made sense when Dr. Kumbla explained what the transplant entails and the steps it would take. The details of the stem cell transplant were presented to my family, and they all agreed that it would be a better way forward for me.

I received the stem cell transplant in March of 2024, and I am currently on a maintenance regimen of medications that I will take for the rest of my life. All of this is from an occupation that I have loved so much.

For years, I trained my body to be the most efficient and the strongest it could be, and yet cancer was still able to get in and cause me harm.

YOU NEVER KNOW