Reducing the Multiple Myeloma Mortality Gap

In 2015, Valarie Traynham visited her primary care physician (PCP) after weeks of intense exhaustion, serious nosebleeds, back pain and flu-like infections. Her PCP noted high protein levels in Traynham’s bloodwork and referred her to a hematologist-oncologist, a doctor who treats cancers of the blood. Seeing a hematologist didn’t alarm Traynham, who’d suffered from anemia, but she didn’t grasp until later that the doctor was also an oncologist, and her condition might be more serious than she thought.Traynham, then 42, received more tests, including full body X-rays and a bone marrow biopsy that led to her being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a disease she’d never heard of. She was told to start treatment immediately. After three sessions, Traynham became so sick she needed a wheelchair to take her from the car to the facility. She felt something wasn’t right, and her aunt, a breast cancer survivor, suggested she visit a specialist.“When I was diagnosed with myeloma at a local community center, I wasn't going to get a second opinion because I just wanted to start treatment and get rid of it,” Traynham said. “I remember the doctor saying, ‘You can go if that’s what you want to do...