Coffee with All4Cure - Michael (2/3)

When my myeloma relapsed I had to go into a clinical trial for treatment. It was going to take a long time and I want to do something else besides think about it. I decided to try and find a woodworking project that I could undertake. I like to work with my hands and completing woodworking tasks has always satisfied me a lot. At one point in life, I wanted to be an engineer. I never got there, but I kept a focus on doing lots of hands-on things all throughout my life. Currently, where we live here in Florida, I am the president of the Pelican Cove Woodworkers Association. We have a wonderful two-car garage shop where I could do woodworking, especially whenever my myeloma treatment would keep me awake at night. My wife and I have a three-bedroom condo that is not very big. We like to conserve space so the idea of a Murphy bed was something we both liked. I had some good friends in the woodworking shop who said they'd help me build it. I needed a hand during certain times of treatment when I couldn't lift things very well. I had some great help and hired some people to paint it for me and it turned out marvelously. I'm very happy that I did it, it gave me something else to focus on and helped with my treatment process overall. I felt accomplished and grounded, and it felt so good to get something done like that during treatment. Who knows what my next project will be. I'm still looking and finding little things that I can do as someone with myeloma, and that makes me feel good.