Debbie Graves and her family at a prior Multiple Myelmoa March event at Maffeo Sutton Park. (Submitted photo)

By Ian Holmes

cancer advocacy

‘I knew something was wrong:’ Nanaimo woman pushes for multiple myeloma awareness

Sep 5, 2021 | 6:21 AM

NANAIMO — When a doctor assumed Debbie Graves’ delayed recovery from fractured ribs was age related she knew something more was wrong.

Stricken with severe pain six weeks after slipping on a boat in the summer of 2018, the then 58-year-old Graves suffered another serious injury.

She was performing light yard work when her back fractured, simply by picking up a wheelbarrow with leaves in it.

Ironically, the painful injury leaving Graves motionless in her yard may have saved her life.

“Luckily there was a new doctor there and she’s like ‘No there’s something wrong here,’” Graves told NanaimoNewsNOW. “She sent me for tests and they found the lesions on my bones and tested my blood and that’s how they found out I had multiple myeloma.

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Those December 2018 test results confirmed Graves had the incurable blood cancer formed by abnormal buildup of plasma cells in bone marrow.

By the time Graves learned her diagnosis, the cancer had already advanced significantly.

“I went from walking around Westwood Lake to I couldn’t go down the stairs to the basement. I was in a wheelchair to go around the block for fresh air.”

Her kidney’s failed, a common complication for multiple myeloma sufferers, and Graves was put on dialysis. It meant a stem cell transplant to potentially push the disease into remission wasn’t possible.

The bad news continued as several rounds of chemotherapy did not slow the disease down.

Graves’ pain, fatigue and lack of mobility worsened before she received much-needed good news.

“Luckily in May 2019 a new drug was finally approved and I was one of the first people to start it and it worked wonders,” Graves said.

She continues using the drug and is feeling “90 per cent better than I did in the beginning” as Graves’ cancer trends toward remission.

Hiking and gardening are enjoyed once more, while Graves typically rests for half the day to manage pain and fatigue.

The retired City of Nanaimo employee is encouraged by advancements in various treatment options as researchers continue making progress to finding a cure for multiple myeloma.

While her fight is far from over, Graves is optimistic about the future.

“Some people are not so lucky, but there are a lot of people living longer and longer and it gives you hope,” she said.

For the second consecutive year the annual Labour Day Multiple Myeloma March at Maffeo Sutton Park was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Participants will instead observe the event with walks in their own neighbourhoods.

Graves and several other Nanaimo area residents with the disease are raising money online through Myeloma Canada.

Join the conversation. Submit your letter to NanaimoNewsNOW and be included on The Water Cooler, our letters to the editor feature.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes