Hope, Healing, and Gratitude: A Life Reimagined After Multiple Myeloma

I have multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that, for now, has no cure. Still, I feel incredibly blessed by the scientific, medical, and spiritual healing that takes place constantly for me and my wonderful caregiver, my wife of 56 years.

I was born in 1946 at the newly named Grace-New Haven Hospital, delivered before an audience of medical students. I grew up in Concord, N.H., and went to Trinity College in Hartford. After marrying my wife Bobbe, we joined the Peace Corps and served in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

Upon our return, I earned my master’s degree in counseling, and we raised our three children in New Hampshire. My career eventually led me to become the founding director of the Career Development Office at Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where I was honored with the title of honorary alumnus in 2019.

My cancer journey started that same year after I broke three ribs while gardening. Further testing revealed multiple myeloma. Throughout my life, “cancer” was always synonymous with a death sentence. My initial research indicated only a 5-year survival rate; however, my primary care doctor shared that his father had lived with multiple myeloma for 10 years, giving me a glimmer of hope. Thankfully, he referred me to Smilow Cancer Hospital and hematologist Natalia Neparidze, MD.

We put our trust in Dr. Neparidze and the entire team, and I decided to enroll in a clinical trial. It was a rigorous regimen that required receiving infusions of a combination therapy known as CRD twice a week for four months. The road was fraught with challenges—pneumonia, blood clots, insomnia, and gastrointestinal issues—but the compassionate care from everyone at Smilow made a world of difference.

Following the trial, I needed an autologous stem cell transplant to hopefully bring me closer to a full remission. Just before Christmas in 2019, I received my transplant and spent 17 days in the hospital with daily monitoring and quarantine limiting my interactions. The artwork in my room and around the building, along with the supportive environment, helped me through the ordeal. For six years after my transplant, I was on a maintenance therapy called Revlimid and received weekly infusions at Smilow Cancer Hospital in North Haven.

Despite being blind in one eye as well as color blind, I have a deep passion for photography. I truly believe that seeing and experiencing beauty all around us is a healing process. With incredible gratitude for the support in my life, I have compiled a personal digital photo album that I have titled My Healers, Healing Places, and Healing Times. It gives me great comfort.

I also believe in giving back to others. Dr. Mel Goldstein, a longtime television meteorologist on WTNH, also had multiple myeloma and the way he openly shared his experience inspired me to do the same years later. I want to advance treatments not just for me, but for others well into the future. Already since 2019, there have been advances to help me maintain my state and move the science and treatments forward. I am so grateful to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) and other organizations. When presented with another healing option this summer, I decided to participate in a new clinical trial that uses a subcutaneous pump designed by Sanofi to speed up delivery of one of my drugs, and my results are very promising already.

Another way I give back is through fundraising efforts with the MMRF. Our walk/run team, which my granddaughter named “Bumpa’s Baddies,” helps support groundbreaking research. We also donate to the Closer to Free Ride through Smilow Cancer Hospital. I understand that a cure might not be possible in my lifetime, but maintaining a stable condition offers hope. I am eternally grateful for the research and advances that have brought me to this point. My journey with multiple myeloma has taught me the importance of finding positive healing, seeking support, and appreciating the beauty in everyday moments.

My desire is that my story can inspire and offer hope to others facing similar challenges. A favorite saying of mine that I saw first on a Smilow 10th anniversary healing stone was “May your weeds be wildflowers.” My hope is that we can all find our own wildflowers among the weeds in our lives.