Coffee with All4Cure - Josh (2/3)

I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma about seven years ago when I was in my early 40s. I was in Beijing on a business trip, and I was literally woken up in the middle of the night from a sudden sharp pain in my hip. It was really unusual for something like that to wake me up out of deep sleep. My right hip began to hurt to a point where I couldn't raise my leg to put on a sock. I came home from Asia in April of 2014, went to see my doctor, and ended up seeing his physician’s assistant. She said, "Oh, you're 43, you're healthy. It's surely sciatica; let's get you physical therapy."

I proceeded with physical therapy for about four or five months. My physical therapist was a great guy, but during those months he was beating the living crap out of my back and leg. Meanwhile, other symptoms began to manifest. I wouldn't heal if I got a mosquito bite and I was anemic. I was dropping weight without really trying. I probably looked pretty sick, and my leg continued to get worse. By the time I got my diagnosis, it was November, and my sickness was starting to become apparent. I mentioned these things to my doctor at my annual physical, telling him how poorly I felt. He got me an MRI at 10 o'clock that night, and I got my diagnosis the next day. It was very clear that I was pretty advanced. I had lesions pretty much everywhere. I picked Massachusetts General Hospital as my primary treatment spot, and I've been with my doctor for the last seven years.

I'm not a very patient person, but the one place where I am always incredibly patient (or at least I try) is when I'm in the hospital or dealing with my health. I won't let a meeting stop me from going to an appointment. People ask, "What has changed since you got diagnosed?" I notice little things. I smile more in photographs because (at the risk of sounding macabre) I want my kids and other people to see me that way. It's little stuff like that, things I've reflected on as my time as a myeloma patient goes on.