Coffee with All4Cure - Sarah (1/4)

I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2005 just two weeks before I graduated college in the middle of finals week. Within those two weeks, I finished finals, graduated college, got diagnosed with cancer, and was offered my first “real” job. Being a young myeloma patient is a very unique experience because I don't have a lot of peers in my age group. I couldn't even picture what cancer looked like for somebody in their twenties and that was a very lonely and isolating feeling. A myeloma diagnosis and treatment can affect your career and relationships differently for patients my age. Since that time, I have been able to make connections with young myeloma patients and it has been really helpful for me. It’s comforting to know they are out there, and I have a cohort of people who have gone through something similar to me. In the last 16 years, I’ve also met myeloma patients of all different ages from all over the country. There were many I believed I would have nothing in common with until I got to know them. I found that many people have experienced those same feelings of loneliness and they worry about fitting this new reality as someone living with cancer into their plans for the future. Over time, I have learned how to live well with cancer, but figuring out how to accept cancer as part of my life was probably the thing I struggled with the most. At this point, my myeloma is not all-consuming, I'm still a full person and myeloma is just one part of my life.