WELLSVILLE March is designated Multiple Myeloma Month MM, the second most prevalent form of blood cancer, causes malignant plasma cells to accumulate in bone marrow.

To raise awareness and put a face behind the statistics, the theme for Multiple Myeloma Month this year is #MYelomaStory.

The National Cancer Institute estimates that more than 34,470 people living in the United States were diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2022. This number includes Kimberly Miller of Ceres, who is the receptionist at the Wilmot Cancer Institute Oncology and Infusion Center at Jones Memorial Hospital.

Millers story began in August 2022, when she started experiencing intense pain in her lower back, hip and groin. After a phone call to her Olean-based primary care provider (PCP), she was told it sounded like diverticulitis and she was advised to go to the emergency room.

That was frustrating because even with my limited medical knowledge, I knew I did not have diverticulitis, she said. I decided to wait a week and see if it got better.

The pain did not get better; it continued to get worse. When it reached the point that she could barely lift her leg to get up into the car, she called her primary care provider again, requesting an appointment to discuss her symptoms. She was again advised that she had diverticulitis; however, her PCP ordered an x-ray of her hips and spine. When the results came back, the nurse told her the images showed no acute findings.

Seeking relief from the agonizing back pain, Miller decided to seek out a chiropractor. She took the x-ray results to her appointment, and was surprised when the doctor explained in detail that what was stated as no acute findings, was actually more acute than was reported.

The chiropractor would not treat her until she had an MRI, so she called her PCP and finally got the appointment she had been requesting. She would see her primary care provider on Sept. 29.

However, on Sept. 25, the pain became so unbearable that her husband, Ed, took her to the closest emergency room, where she had an abdominal CT and a spinal CT. With no family history of cancer, she was shocked when the results came back and she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma.

It has settled in my spine, she said, noting that the cancer eats holes in bone.

From Olean, she was taken by ambulance to Buffalo General Hospital where she met with the Great Lakes Cancer team. To make her treatment more convenient, Miller was referred to Dr. Yasar Shad, an oncologist at the Wilmot Olean Oncology and Infusion Center on West State Street.

Millers treatment so far has included four cycles of chemotherapy, five sessions of radiation, and a spinal surgery.

I began radiation treatment in Olean, in mid-October, and chemotherapy on Nov. 9, she said. Dr. Shad and his staff have been a huge blessing to me through chemotherapy, and countless doctor appointments in Rochester.

She also met with a neurosurgeon, Dr. Pierre Girgis, to deal with the brittle bones and spine fractures. She had kyphoplasty surgery on her spine on March 1.

Now in her fifth cycle of chemo, Miller is anticipating an appointment with the UR Medicine Stem Cell Transplant Team to prepare for a stem cell transplant in April.

Because stem cell transplants take the immune system back to that of a newborn baby, recovery includes at least 90 days of quarantine at home, she said. I have heard very good things about the SCT process and how many patients go into remission afterward.

She said she is thankful for all of the support she has received from staff at Jones Memorial Hospital, Strong Memorial Hospital and the Wilmot Cancer Center at Strong.

I know I have many, many people praying for me, and being able to get the treatment I need closer to home has been a blessing, she said.

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Multiple Myeloma Month: A Ceres woman's journey to treatment - Olean Times Herald