SAINT JOHN, N.B. — Sally Crate’s father died from multiple myeloma, but having a family history still wasn't enough for her aching left hip to be misdiagnosed as something else in 2006.
“And then one year later my hip… it broke,” says the Saint John woman.
It was in the emergency room where doctors told Crate she had a tumour. It took a few more weeks for an official diagnosis to be given.
Multiple myeloma is a form of blood cancer involving plasma cells which turn cancerous.
"The plasma cells gather in the bones of people with myeloma and they end up having lesions in the bones, sometimes pathological fractures… which I had,” she says.
Crate and her family would soon learn the disease can often be mistaken as something else.
"Initially they had told her it was going to be a certain type of cancer, and then they had come back and said it was going to be one of these three, and it ended up being a totally different one," says John Crate, Sally’s husband.
Once the correct diagnosis was made, Crate investigated her treatment options and had a stem cell transplant in 2008.
"Since then I’ve been in remission," she says. "I started five years ago on a form of oral chemo so I’m on that and I am doing fairly well."
"I took on an approach of leaning on my faith and positive thoughts, and my family. They’ve been my source of strength and hope through it."
Crate has also been working to raise money and awareness about the disease through the Multiple Myeloma March.
The fundraising walks are happening in cities across the country next month, and are some of the first in-person charity gatherings to be organized during the pandemic. Virtual marches will also be held.
The Saint John march will be held in person on Sept. 12.
"You feel very strong as you march," says Crate. "You’re there for those who’ve passed on, you’re there for your family and all the members of your group."
Crate says raising awareness about the disease is a key part of the event, adding much more is known now about multiple myeloma compared to when she was first diagnosed.
"There needs to be more education for medical people, doctors especially, to help with the diagnosis of the disease," she says.
"It’s been helpful to meet other people who have myeloma. We share what’s happened to them and often we share the same thing that’s happened, with how the disease is presented or that we’ve been misdiagnosed."
Multiple Myeloma March events will also happen in Moncton on Sept. 18, and Summerside, P.E.I. on Sept. 19. A virtual event will be held in Halifax on Sept. 26.
