By Adam Donnelly

Multiple Myeloma March held at Riverside Park on Saturday

Aug 28, 2017 | 5:03 PM

KAMLOOPS — While Myeloma is a relatively rare cancer, it’s no less devastating than any of the more common forms of the disease. It’s a cancer of the plasma cells located within bone marrow; this weekend in Kamloops, Myeloma Canada held the Multiple Myeloma March, an event meant to raise funds, and more importantly awareness about the disease.

A few dozen people took part in the event held at Riverside Park on Saturday morning, including Myeloma survivor Ron Surry. Surry is the founder of the Myeloma Support Group for the BC Southern Interior and says while this form of cancer is quite rare, it’s often confused with other types of the disease, making the awareness piece of the march that much more important.

“Most people think of it as Melanoma – skin cancer,” Surry explained. “This is not skin cancer, it’s bone marrow cancer, and very deadly if not treated.”

The fact Myeloma is still quite rare brings some unique challenges, including a difficulty in diagnosing the disease, and an extremely high cost for many of the treatments. Surry hopes holding more Multiple Myeloma Marches across Canada will help bring more awareness, and makes things easier on those battling the disease.

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