What is Multiple Myeloma?

Cancer Mayor Sam Jones It's not a cureable cancer but it is treatable. A Baldwin County woman has lived with the disease for nearly five years.

by Jessica Taloney

Published: Fri, March 06, 2009 - 4:45 pm CST Last Updated: Fri, March 06, 2009 - 4:47 pm CST

More than 56,000 Americans are living with Multiple Myeloma, a potentially deadly form of blood cancer.

Mary Walker, a former college professor from Baldwin County, was diagnosed in May 2004, eight months after her husband was diagnosed with Lukemia.

Walker remembers the day she visited her doctor, complaining of nausea. "He says you know you're looking great. You look like you're feeling good. There's a whole list of things that could be wrong that's nothing major," her doctor told her."

Unfortunately, one week later he broke the bad news. "He was devastated when he said I don't know how to tell you this... you have cancer," remembers Mary.

Mary traveled 460 miles to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She spent 30 days there undergoing a stem cell transplant. Mary describes the cancer saying "it eats holes in your bones." She says many of people don't even know they have Multiple Myeloma until their bones become extremely brittle.

"They suddenly realize they're sick when they sneeze and their ribs break," says Mary.

Mobile Mayor Sam Jones, who was diagnosed last December, is reportedly in the early stages of the disease. A spokesperson for the mayor says doctors caught the cancer early and his prognosis is good.

Geraldine Ferraro, the first female Vice Presidential candidate, has been living with Multiple Myeloma for more than a decade. Ferraro was diagnosed in 1998.

Other famous Americans who battled Multiple Myeloma include Sam Walton and Ann Landers.

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