According to a story from philly.com, a pair of twins, Marilyn and Sharon Alexander, have dedicated much of their lives to cancer advocacy after a life and death battle nearly 25 years ago. Marilyn was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and at that time, there was even less of a chance of survival than there is now. Doctors gave her only two or three years to live. However, Marilyn had an ace up her sleeve: her twin sister.
Multiple myeloma is a type of blood cancer that affects plasma cells. Plasma cells are an essential type of white blood cell that produces antibodies, but when they become cancerous, they produce abnormal ones that can cause significant health problems. They can affect the function of the kidneys and can also caused blood to become unusually thick. Clusters of cancerous plasma cells can also form masses in the bone marrow. This cancer may not cause symptoms at first, but as the disease advances it can cause patients to experience frequent infections, anemia, bleeding, and bone pain. Amyloidosis is also a potential complication. This long term cancer is generally considered incurable. Risk factors include alcohol consumption, obesity, exposure to radiation or certain chemicals, and a family history of the disease. To learn more about multiple myeloma, click here.
Marilyn was diagnosed with the cancer when she was 45 years old, in 1993. Complications from the cancer and from using bone-building drugs over the years had caused her to lose much of the bone in her right jaw, and she had to get her left thigh replaced with a metal rod. The treatment regimen available for multiple myeloma at that juncture was woefully ineffective; only about five percent of patients actually responded to treatment, and they almost always relapsed.
Thankfully, a bone marrow transplant was able to save her life. Though the procedure was still in its infancy for multiple myeloma, Sharon was a perfect match, since she was Marilyn’s twin. While Marilyn still takes medication to suppress her cancer, the operation allowed her to live long enough to take advantage of new medical advances and begin her campaign of advocacy alongside her lifesaver, Sharon.
Only a month after her recovery, the sisters were out raising money for the International Myeloma Foundation. Not much later, they established a new organization called the Philadelphia Multiple Myeloma Networking Group. The group currently has around 300 members, and provides patients in the area with essential support and information. The organization has also donated over a million dollars for research and their annual fundraiser, the Miles for Myeloma 5K, is slated to begin on April 28th.
