Coffee with All4Cure - Aaron (2/2)

My strength comes from my family. We are close-knit. I have a twin brother who I talk to a lot and my son who brings me joy every day. My wife is my primary caregiver. When I was diagnosed with myeloma at 35 she was only 29 and has remained so strong. After I was diagnosed, I remember her saying “I don’t know what this is going to cost, but it doesn’t matter because we are going to do it and get through it.” When I think back on it, our life together was just starting. If you can imagine, our son had just turned two when I learned I had myeloma. My push for life and the drive to beat this disease by doing the most I could was to be around for him. I am in no way giving up now, but when I reflect on it today I feel blessed that I’ve had this many years with him. No matter what happens from here on out, I feel like I was given enough time to have influenced his life. I really feel like he is a good, smart kid and if something was to happen to me now, I wouldn’t be so worried about him. It’s hard to go through something like this without family. When I was younger I was more ambitious about work. Now, while I still do my best at my job, my first priority isn’t to work a bunch of hours and move up in a company. My priority is to spend time with my family. I like to travel, watch my son play whatever sport he is in, visit my brother--that’s what we live for. When you’re 35 and you get a diagnosis like this, your mortality is suddenly in your face. It is a shock, it becomes real. It’s been 12 years since I was first diagnosed with myeloma. Since then, I’ve already lived longer than I thought I would. It’s still a little scary, but I don’t fret too much about anything. It is fun to just live life, be positive, and not worry too much about things I can’t control.