Last year, one of my best friends, Julián Conde, was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. As we all know, we live in a time... in a country... that values bombs over the wellbeing of its citizens. With the rising costs of healthcare, he needs all the help you are able to provide.

Please take a moment to read the following message from Julián...

The Backstory

In 2023, the world was returning from the Pandemic and I was excited to get back into the rhythm of things. The acting business, teaching at USC, my kickboxing routine. I remember in May I was getting my yearly check up. And that was the first time something was not normal. My urine was reported as misty. My doctor told me not to worry, this can be normal. It wasn’t normal to me. Something didn’t feel right. But the world was opening up so I pushed ahead. That summer I had embarked on an intensive kickboxing training camp in Thailand. It was one of the most challenging trainings I’ve ever done. And the journey was so fruitful and invigorating! Before I returned to the United States, a skin infection developed by my ankle. I thought nothing by it. As the hours passed on my flight I could feel the infection spreading up my leg. I’ve never felt something so intrusive so quickly. When I landed I was able to get antibiotics to heal from this infection. I figured we get sick, things happen! I proceeded with life.

At this point my body felt different. Training felt just a little more strenuous. I thought it was the change because of age; at some point things start working differently. I thought it was that I hadn’t kept consistent with my training. Things didn’t feel the same. One day I went to the movies to watch a film. Mid way through the movie, I had to run to the bathroom. I’m usually able to get through it, but I couldn’t. When I was at the urinal, I noticed my urine was foamy. This was new. This was different. This is not normal. I panicked. Immediately, I made an appointment to see the doctor. Again, he said not to worry— but I was worried.

Things are happening and I didn’t know why. Things were changing. That winter I had just finished doing an amazing play on stage and now it was time to reconnect with my family. I headed to Colombia, back to my motherland. It was the beginning of the holidays and when I landed in Bogota I felt sick. I had Covid symptoms and my body was really weak. I tried to push through the holidays but things only got better gradually. I went to the doctor in Colombia and that’s when they told me I was anemic. I didn’t even know what that meant. But I felt the weakness. I felt the tiredness.

The semester began again and I was on stage as well for the next few months of the new year. 2024 had begun and I jumped in busy and excited to be involved. By the end of the semester I was exhausted and I had developed a boil on my neck. My hips started hurting so much pain was taking over my body and I didn’t know why. I returned back to the doctor the same one that kept telling me that I was okay all these past times. And he prescribed to me an antibiotic but my body was not functioning correctly. I went to the hospital and I learned I was battling sepsis. I was hospitalized for ten days. Doctors couldn’t figure out what was happening. And while I was able to recuperate from sepsis without any serious organ damage, nobody had answers as to what was happening.

I was tired, I was exhausted. I saw a hematologist and a urologist. And for six months these doctors found nothing. I entered 2025 continuing to battle boils that would arrive on my skin but that weren’t ever as bad as the one that gave me sepsis. I continued to be anemic but no answers were found.

By the summer of 2025 my aunt passed away. I went to Colombia to be with my family and mourn her. And with the anemia and the tiredness I needed to be physical. I decided to continue training with kickboxing. One morning during a Muay Thai class, I held a pad for a student, helping him train. When he punched the pad, it I felt like I got hit by a bus. I was lying on the ground and I couldn’t move my arm. Maybe I dislocated it. Maybe my muscle tore because of exhaustion. I had no idea what had happened. David, my trainer, rushed me to the hospital. I remember sitting in a room, waiting for the nurses to take tests, thinking to myself, something is really wrong. Why can’t they find something.

My Diagnosis

After taking X rays I learned that I had broken my arm; snapped in half by the bicep.

How does that happen? I flew out immediately, back to the States, where doctors explained to me that I had an accumulation of Myeloma cells in my bones. I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. In retrospect, somewhere along the curiosity of my symptoms, I ran into this explanation. Still, I couldn’t believe it. Cancer? How? I imagined I was being healthy. I thought working out and eating consciously was taking care of myself. The foam in my urine is the response from my kidneys not being able to filter the Myeloma. The anemia was from the Myeloma crowding out my red blood cells. And the broken bone was from the Myeloma cells accumulating into a tumor which made my bones fragile.

I have legions in my bones, specifically a significant gap in my skull and in my hips.

My diagnosis was ten years.

That’s all I heard. When I got home from the hospital I remember sitting on the couch and feeling the weight of what I had been going through and finally understanding why. All this time my body was responding to these cells that were uncontrollably reproducing and I had no idea. I also thought about how much time I had left. I had fallen into a really dark place. I balled my eyes out that night. I must have cried for a few hours.

That next morning I woke up and I made a choice: begin to appreciate everything that comes my way. Conjure up thoughts of peace and happiness. I am about to live my best ten years. And I was looking forward to creating amazing experiences as I move forward in my life.

Six Cycles

A few weeks had passed since my diagnosis and I began seeing my cancer doctor. I was prescribed the four drug regiment: Daratumumab , Dexamethasone, Lenalidomide and Bortezomib, with a shot of Zometa every three months. I was diagnosed with high risk multiple Myeloma, which means that there is a possibility that after the medication my condition could return even more aggressively.

I was to complete six cycles of the medication which would then be followed by a stem cell transplant. After my second cycle, my body seemed to be responding to the medication. At diagnosis, my Myeloma count was 25,000. After my second cycle it dropped to 59. This meant that my body was responding to the medication. This was a good sign. I am what is considered a high risk case of Myeloma because my P 17 gene is missing two arms in the PT 53 sequence. To say it simply, my cancer suppressor gene in both arms are missing. This makes me more vulnerable for my body to relapse. But I am also learning that because of technology and science, in the next ten years a lot of solutions will be arriving. So It looks like I will have a long journey with my condition. They do say that at some point it will return but hopefully by then there will be even better technology and solutions.

During the stem cell transplant, which is when they extract cells from your bone marrow and inject the best cells from that draw back into you, I will be given Melphalan— chemo therapy that will rid the Myeloma cells along with some of my good cells. This will weaken my immune system significantly, forcing me into quarantine for two to three months.

NOW.

I am currently in my sixth cycle. I am no longer on the Lenalidomide, which ensures that my body will not be polluted when they extract my stem cells. I am currently taking tests to make sure my body will be prepared for chemotherapy.

The date of my transplant is April 7th.

I’m reaching out to everyone for support through this experience. Economically this will affect me because I will not be working and the medical bills are already piling up. Anything you can donate will be much appreciated. Thank you for all the love and support from all of you. All of you have been amazing and I am grateful for all the help and attention.

Palante!