As I understand it, based on my years of experience marketing to healthcare providers AND patients (oncology or otherwise), the greatest barrier to the successful recovery from any medical malady is compliance. Beyond taking your medications as prescribed, compliance = completing the dosage, avoiding foods or extracurriculars (eg: smoking, drinking, etc.) that exacerbate the given condition, doing the exercises or activities recommended to support recovery, and all of the other advice/instructions that the healthcare team prescribes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah.
In my case, this is even more applicable, because unlike almost all other cancers, Multiple Myeloma is a chronic/ongoing condition. It's not about removing a tumor and/or eradicating explosive cancer growth in a particular part of the body, crossing your fingers to make it to the loose standard of 5 years being cancer-free, or taking an initial/limited course of drugs to finish the job. For me, it's about keeping a lid on the unchecked growth of myeloma cells in my blood which cause the issue in the first place. Mine is a life of a drug regimen that includes a few pills each day and a monthly visit to the Clinic for a "boost" of chemo/monoclonal antibodies and other good stuff (eg: IVIG, Zometa; to proactively address potential bone damage, etc.) - all designed to work in unison to keep me going. It's a relatively small price to pay - this paltry pill popping program or infusion intrusion - but it won't work unless I stay vigilant in my compliance with the routine. No, I won't drop dead if I miss a dose one day, nor will it upset the treatment balance if I push back a Clinic session in a given month. But staying with the overall process is my job.
Will that adherence to my meds regimen cure my cancer? No. There's nothing I can do (could have done), to change my MM fate. But through the simple act of staying the course and being compliant, I can take a very active role in the containment of my cancer and the prolonging of my life. That's a pretty powerful motivation. I think I'm up for the task.
