Seniors Home Zone
Host Rebecca Finegan brings practical guidance shaped by twelve years as a caregiver and extensive experience helping older adults and their families. Each episode offers clear steps that support decluttering, downsizing, home safety, and confident aging at home.
Rebecca explains how to make thoughtful home decisions, improve daily safety, and prepare for life’s next stage with less stress. Her support reaches families both locally and remotely, giving listeners real solutions that create comfort, clarity, and peace of mind.
Seniors Home Zone
When Something Feels Off: Understanding Multiple Myeloma | Part 1
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In this episode of Seniors Home Zone, Rebecca Finegan is joined by Colleen Feuling, a fellow Senior Home Coach™ and REALTOR® serving older adults in Northern Nevada.
Before entering this work, Colleen spent years in radiology and interventional radiology, giving her a unique perspective on both healthcare and patient experiences. In August 2025, she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Multiple Myeloma and has since been navigating a new way of living and working.
Together, they discuss the early signs that are often overlooked, the emotional and practical realities of navigating a serious diagnosis, and the impact that health challenges can have on everyday life for individuals and families.
This conversation is designed to raise awareness, foster understanding, and provide support to those navigating difficult diagnoses, caregiving responsibilities, and life transitions.
Seniors Home Zone is a place to reflect on life’s transitions and talk about what matters most.
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Most of us move through life, assuming serious illness will announce itself loudly through a diagnosis, hospital stay, or a moment that makes it obvious something is wrong. Yet multiple myeloma rarely works that way and often whispers first. Welcome to Senior's Home Zone, where we reflect on life's transitions and talk about what matters most. I'm Rebecca Finnegan, your senior home coach. This illness is frequently mistaken for normal aging, showing up as ongoing fatigue, persistent bone or back pain, frequent infections, or blood work that feels slightly off without clear answers. Families are not ignoring the signs. They are navigating confusion without a roadmap, and the uncertainty becomes one of the hardest parts. Not knowing which symptoms matter, what questions to ask, or how life may be about to change. This episode exists to bring awareness, compassion, and clarity so families feel less alone and conversations feel more approachable. I learned about multiple myeloma through Colleen Fueling, who is living with this diagnosis. Her experience revealed how little most of us understand until we are forced to learn quickly. Colleen serves older adults in northern Nevada as a senior home coach and realtor. And before entering this work, she spent years in radiology and interventional radiology, giving her a deep understanding of both people and medical care. In August of 2025, Colleen was diagnosed with an aggressive form of multiple myeloma and has since been navigating a new way of living and working. Colleen, I want to thank you for joining me today. And if you can tell us a little bit about your family and when you were first diagnosed or the symptoms that you had.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you so much for having me on today, Rebecca. This is super exciting for me, and I'm happy to be able to share my story to hopefully help other people. I'm married. We have three children that are 18, 16, and 14. 18-year-old is in college now and lives in Colorado. We live in northern Nevada. Um, and then I have two kids are in high school and very involved with a lot of different things with our sports and leadership and other activities. And my husband's got a very busy job. And he was, I think that I first started feeling pain about a year ago. I had joined our local, um, it's called the MAC multi-tech activity center, I think. Um, my son Cooper and I had joined to do a self-paced marathon, and it's over eight weeks, and you just go and run the track there and they count your laps. And I was able to run in the beginning, and then um started having some rib pain, and I was sick at the time too. I had a cold or something and thought that I had cracked a rib or two because it hurt so bad. And I went to urgent care and they took x-rays and nothing showed up on that. Um fast forward to March, and the pain in my ribs was coming and going. But in March, I went to um Alabama with Gideon, my older son, for his orienteering competition. And I was feeling good then. I went on one of their trails that they have, sorry. And after that, my right hip started hurting. It wasn't actually my hip, it was my pelvis. Um, it felt like I had walked into something, and that pain ended up not going away. And then fast forward again to the end of May, and I had bent over and I couldn't get back up without um maneuvering myself because I had severe pain in the middle of my back. And so instead of going to the fun manicure pedicure thing with my daughter, Delaney, we ended up going to the ER and they x-rayed my back and nothing showed up. And they gave me um some muscle relaxers at that time. Well, that didn't do anything to help. Um in July, we went on a family trip to the Pacific Northwest and did a lot of hiking, and I was in pain, but I could keep up because I was taking idiprofen all the time, just like 24 hours a day. And then we got back from that trip, and my oldest son, Gideon, and I went to Wisconsin for a little trip, and that is where things really started to change. We were on the plane, and I I had actually gone to urgent care again the night before to see if they could give me something for pain. Wasn't sure if I could get on the plane, and I was given muscle relaxers and said, you know, your muscles are tense, you just need to get a massage. And when I was on the plane, I put my head down on the tray to try and just relax. And the person in front of me shoved their chair back and it like hit my head, which we looking back now, we think that that's actually where the compression fractures happened in my spine. I was in excruciating pain after that, and I was having a hard time driving. I was I was starting to furniture walk. Um, I ended up going to the ER in Wisconsin because I didn't think I could get home. And there again, they didn't do anything except give me muscle relaxers. They said you need to get home and talk to your own doctor. So I've never had any lab work done through any of these visits. Um in the meantime, I had gotten established with a new primary care doctor, and he was doing some lab work on me. So the day after the trip, after we got home, I took my husband with me to get those results because I knew something was really wrong. And that's where everything really started to change. That was when they knew they knew something was wrong too. So that was August 7th, and my primary primary care doctor said, I think you have multiple myeloma. I want you to have a CT of your chest and abdomen. Actually, she ordered a pelvis too, but the insurance denied that part of it. She said, You're gonna follow up with an oncologist. And wow, that was like, you know, immediate tears looking at my husband and just like, what the heck is multiple myeloma? Um, I used to be an x-ray tech. I knew that it was some sort of disease that could affect the kidneys because it was part of our protocol to ask questions about multiple myeloma. And this goes back a lot over probably 25 years. Um and so working as a senior home coach, I went and met with a couple two days later at their house. And I remember carrying my large purse with my laptop, and I could hardly carry it to their door. The the wife knew she was like, What is wrong with you? Something's wrong with you. And I said, I know, but we're not we're not talking about me today. Um, and when I got home, I said, I can't drive anymore. I am in so much pain. I something's super wrong. And so the next week I had the CT, and um, a couple days later, we met with the oncologist, and he said, Go pack your bags. You've got myeloma lesions all over your ribs in your spine, um, and you're you're gonna go get admitted to the hospital. And so there's no hiding any of this from the kids. They know I'm in pain. I go home, I'm crying. We had dinner together and talked about what's gonna happen next. We don't know. Went to the hospital and they made me sit in the ER for four hours first because they don't do direct admits, which was ridiculous. Got me up into the room, and then over the next nine days, they did all kinds of tests. So this was blood work every day, this was doing an MRI of my complete spine. And that was difficult because I also have a pacemaker, so that had to be scheduled special. They did a bone marrow biopsy, and that is actually the most important thing because that will give you um that's the confirming for the diagnosis of multiple myeloma. But they have to chip that sample out, so that actually took the entire nine days. They did x-rays, they put me on all kinds of pain medications, which caused other problems. My body was so weak, I I couldn't get out of bed. It was it was terrible. And then on that ninth day, they were they were actually trying to discharge me the day before. And and we fought and said, no, I can't leave yet. We don't even have the diagnosis, and I am in, I want to be here as long as I can for the support because it's my pain was just unmanageable. My kidney function was very low. We found it that was at 40% because what multiple myeloma does is it pulls the calcium out of your bones and throws it into your kidneys, and it's too big for your kidneys to process. And so they were able to correct that, thankfully. So I don't have any kidney damage that's long term. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Do you think that if they realized what it was about a year ago that it wouldn't have been so serious?
SPEAKER_01Yes. Um, one of the problems with multiple myeloma is that it can take years. And um, there are different things that they look for. One of the things is high calcium. I've had high calcium for at least 10 years, but without anything else to go off of, there are too many things that high calcium can cause. So there was no, they couldn't look for the myeloma just yet.
SPEAKER_00Was there anything, any other signs that people can look for or questions that can ask to try and get this diagnosed earlier?
SPEAKER_01When we looked at my lab work, everything was wrong. My white blood cells, my red blood cells, my creatinine, my B UN, but there is something called a protein spike. And that was the giveaway. And I didn't know that because right away, um, I didn't see my primary care doctor again until, well, I did I did see her in September, but it wasn't until I saw her in December. And I asked her, how did she know it was multiple myeloma? Because there are only 30,000 people diagnosed with this disease every year in the United States. So it's not very, it's not very well known. And she said it was the protein, the M spike. So it's supposed to be zero. Mine was seven, which is extremely high.
SPEAKER_00So could that have been tested back in March, April, May, and it had been classified at that time?
SPEAKER_01All three of these visits that I had, nobody ran any lab work on me. So I had not had any lab work done since my previous well check, you know, my annual exam, which is around July or August. And that was what she did. She said, let's just run some basic labs and see where that leads us.
SPEAKER_00One thing that you had mentioned was you had broken ribs, um, and you hadn't done anything to cause that. Why is that?
SPEAKER_01But um, with that calcium being leached out of the bones, lytic lesions form. And so these lesions are like ear pockets that are within the bone and it weakens that space. And so when I've looked at my imaging now, I have these lesions throughout my ribs, throughout my spine, and in my pelvis. And that was the pain that it was causing. There was like a little piece of my pelvis that had broken off. You can get them anywhere. So I ended up having leg pain shortly after my diagnosis, and it was just above my right knee. And I went to urgent care three times within less than a month because it was so bad. We thought that one of those lesions was gonna break. And I knew that I did not want my femur to break because then I would need a rod, and that's a whole other thing. And like luckily that didn't happen. But these lesions, they're either very tiny and you can get many of them, or they can be larger. And I have some of those too. So I had one specific rib that hurt me, and I was actually seeing my chiropractor before the diagnosis, and he does a heated laser, and he was trying to help with that pain. But that's like forming this bubble in my rib and expanding those bones, which creates pain and makes it thin so that it's easy to break. Do you still have those lesions? I do, but they did a PET scan right away to see where all the activity is. And I lit up like a Christmas tree. And that was back in September. And then they did another one in December as a follow-up. And although there were some new lesions, none of the lesions have any activity in them right now. So that is super exciting because since the beginning of September through December 15th, I've been having weekly chemo treatments. And so now we know that the chemo is working. And that proved in the lab work as well that I was getting every other week.
SPEAKER_00And walk us through what chemo is like. Because if you haven't been through it, you have no idea.
SPEAKER_01Right. And everybody's journey is different. Um, and depending on what type of chemo you're getting too. So mine, um mine was I took two pills and I got two injections into my belly. It was a very quick visit for me. Um, one of the medications was injected just real quick, and the other one was given over three minutes. And then I could get up and leave. So as long as the drugs were there and ready for me, my visit was pretty minimal, like between 15 and 30 minutes. Side effects, I had one that was like an upper, so it make me, it gave me a lot of energy, and then another one was more of a downer. And so they like that day, it was every Monday that I would get the treatment. And I learned very quickly to not do anything on Mondays. I I couldn't make decisions. That was partially from the pain meds I was on too, but the feelings that it would give me just would mess with my body, and I just I didn't want to see anybody. I just wanted to be left alone and just let that process happen. And then Tuesday I was feeling pretty good again.
SPEAKER_00How was your family through all this? This was all done locally, right? So they were there with you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So when I was first diagnosed and admitted to the hospital, one of my best friends happened to be visiting here from New York. And she was supposed to leave that day with her two daughters, who are best friends with my daughter. And they extended their stay for two days and they stayed in our house. I don't even know what they did exactly because it wasn't here, but making some meals and cleaning the house. My other friends helped my parents fly here. My whole family lives in Wisconsin, and so does my husband's family. My parents flew here and they stayed with us for five weeks. The kids were great. Everybody was here. That the week that I was in the hospital, my husband and I were supposed to be driving Gideon to college. And of course, I didn't get to do that. But between our family and friends in the community, we've we've been just loved on and taken care of by so many people have been taking care of us.
SPEAKER_00Good support system. Oh, yeah. Because you really could do anything.
SPEAKER_01I couldn't. Um, I came home unable to walk unassisted. So I had a walker, and I already knew our house was like this disaster of a place to age in place when we talk about that. But we have steps that go up into the house, we have steps down into our living room, all of our showers are upstairs, our bedrooms are upstairs. And because of having all these fractures, I couldn't lift anything. I couldn't even hold my water bottle without being in pain. I mean, it was ridiculous. Having people cook and, you know, I needed assistance getting in and out of the bathtub to shower. My dad was amazing. He is a handyman, and he put grab bars in our bathrooms and in the shower. And it took some time to figure out where things could actually go and what would be most beneficial, especially because of finding studs and we have a pocket door and just things that you have to figure out that make it a little more challenging.
SPEAKER_00You don't think about it when when you're not in that situation. So you probably had a hard time using the walker too, because you got to put weight on that.
SPEAKER_01Yep. I we had an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, a social worker, a nurse. The social worker only came one time, but occupational therapy lasted for eight weeks. The nurse was here for six, physical therapy was three weeks. To think that here I am, this normal, physically fit, independent person. And within two weeks, that all went away. I didn't drive for almost four months. And that was between the pain meds and the pain.
SPEAKER_00I couldn't do it. So for someone else who has to figure out how to age in place, like you said, all the showers were upstairs. How did you get around problems within the house?
SPEAKER_01Um, the only person that I trusted to help me up the stairs was my husband. So having somebody that's strong enough and that is capable can see the things that could come. So I have kids that are strong enough, but they don't have the experience of what if she trips. I needed somebody a step ahead of me. I just kept thinking, I don't know how somebody who's older or who doesn't have somebody to help them. You you need somebody to be safe. You need somebody to be there with you for all these things. Even when I got my my port, and then I also have a central line. Um having those things and trying to shower, I couldn't do that by myself. So I've given up my independency multiple times since August. And I had my haircut because that made it easier to shower. So maybe even something just that simple. Um it it made it made the ability for me to shower by myself right now while I have this central line, I can do it because I can hold the um sprayer and then wash my hair with the other hand. Whereas with longer hair, I I wasn't able to do that.
SPEAKER_00And so why do you still have the center port? What's um?
SPEAKER_01So when I came, when I was in the hospital in August, they lost access on me. I had multiple IVs and my veins all gave out. And so I requested to get a PIC line. And that was difficult to put. They they got access, but they couldn't put it in because I have a pacemaker. And they it went up against the pacemaker wire, so they had to go in on the other side, and it was challenging, but the doctor got it in. I couldn't go home with that line though, because of the risk of infection, so they had to pull it out. So when I got home and being having labs drawn every week was very difficult. So I requested to get a port put in. They put a port in, but then my next step, which was in January, was to have my stem cells harvested or taken out. They needed more access than what the port could do. So they had to put in central line, which has three lumens, so they can be doing a retrieval, they can do an injection and something else. What, you know, three things at the same time. And that that line can take the pressure of the machines that are doing the work. So when I went to the hospital, or I my I have a local oncologist, and then I also have a multiple myeloma specialist. And if you don't yet have that specialist, you need to find one because they're the ones that know everything about the multiple myeloma. And so my specialist is in Salt Lake City, which is an eight hour drive. We don't have any specialists here in Nevada. And my first visit there was in December for my uh PET scan and some lab work. And then I went again in January for two weeks. Was for the stem cell collection, and that is a whole process. So they do lab work, they give some different shots, newpogen shots, and that helps for the stem cells to proliferate so that they can hopefully collect. In my case, they want they had a goal of 10 million stem cells that they wanted to collect. They told me they needed 3 million for the transplant. So it was four days of getting these newpogen shots, which can create bone pain and headaches because your cells are being created within your bone marrow, which is in your long bones. It makes those bones hurt. So my arms and legs were hurting every night. They had me take an antihistamine because there's something with that that counteracts that pain. So I was doing that. And then on the fifth day, they put in the central line. And then the next day was the beginning of the stem cell harvesting. So they hooked me up to an aphoresis machine. And you're sitting in this chair for eight hours, and it's a very long day. And they prepped me for that. There's a lot of waiting. I wasn't able to just get hooked up and going right away. They had to check my labs. They have an idea of how many stem cells they can collect that day, and then they hook you up and they gave me calcium throughout the whole process because my electrolytes would be out of balance. You can get up to go to the bathroom, but they have to unhook you, so you try to not do that too many times. Luckily, I was able to just stand up in place and move my legs. Some people are very positional with their line and it doesn't work and they have to lay very still. And then at the end of the day, they they would turn it off and take me off at uh 2.30 or 3, and they do more lab work to see how many stem cells they actually collected. So we had this grand idea that we'd get so many, and then the first day they got 1.34 million. And that just was crushing to me because that's like nowhere near 10 million. And we know that the first two days are the highest collection days, and they don't do it for any more than four days. Four days is the max to go back later that night to get the new pigeon shot again. And they actually gave me an additional shot, and I forget the name of that drug, but it's like another one to help you get even more stem cells. So going back the second day, same routine. Um, I did more time standing, and I actually did more time walking in the beginning. So moving, just moving, is really helpful, no matter if you want to do it or you don't, but just take a walk and get those, get your blood moving, get your legs stretched. After the second day, they had collected. Um, I think that was 1.4 million. So we were not quite to 3 million yet. And I just was crushed with that. And then the doctor said, we only need 2.5 million for the stem cell transplant. So at least we had that much. And they also said we would only do one more day because I didn't have enough in me to do a fourth day. So did the third day. They only expected to get 400,000, and I ended up with getting a million. So that was a little bonus. Yeah. So then I was feeling good again on the third day. Um, and that was it. So then they let us go home early, which was a nice surprise to the kids and us because we didn't tell them we were coming home early.
SPEAKER_00And that that made a little bit of a husband your husband was there with you?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he was there with me the whole time at my side. Most of the time I had to shoot, you know, go take a walk. Um, but yeah, having somebody there is helpful.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I'm sure, especially for your spirits, you know, encouragement. Yeah. Absolutely. So they collected more than what you need. What do they do with what's left over?
SPEAKER_01So we'll find out for sure when we go back. Um, we're hoping that because so they collect plasma too, and they home those stem cells in the plasma and freeze them. We're hoping that there's enough in the first two bags that they can use that for the transplant. And then there will be one more bag that can be just kept forever or until it could be used for something else. You only have one chance of a stem cell collection. So you got to make the most of it. And it doesn't matter who you are, like they never know who's gonna produce what. You know, you could be a very young, fit, 20-some-year-old supermuscular person that creates very little, or you could be 90 years old, very frail, and have 20 million stem cells that decide they want to be harvested. We don't know. Yeah, so what's your next step? So I so I came home with the line. Um, I'll have it for the next steps. I leave on Sunday and I will be there for five weeks. This is for the actual transplant. Um, we have a day that we meet with the doctor and go over the consent and sign the consent, do blood work. Tuesday is my chemo day, so that's a high dose, and they do that as an injection this time, so that'll go through that central line. And then the following day, Wednesday, will be my actual, they call it a rebirth day or day zero, and that's when you get the stem cells back. And I'll be admitted to the hospital that day as well. I will be in the hospital for two weeks, and that's basically to keep an eye on me. There's a high risk of infection, um, and diarrhea is the worst side effect that you can have too. So they want to get on that stuff right away, and so they'll keep me in the hospital during that time. They encourage movement. Again, they like they said around day five to seven is when you really start feeling your worst. Your hair starts falling out in clumps. They said I could shave my head before I go there so that I can be in control of that. I don't know. I may or may not. We'll see. And then getting up and walking, they have a bike in each patient room. Um, and they do a self-paced marathon. So now I'm putting this out to the world that there's, you know, I am great at having a little carrot dangled in front of me. So my goal is to get that, accomplish that marathon and get that medal.
SPEAKER_00That's a good goal. Yeah, totally. Okay, so you said two weeks. So what happens with the other three weeks?
SPEAKER_01So the other three weeks, I will be moved to outpatient. And if you live locally, you can go home. I don't live locally, so I will hopefully be able to stay at the Hope Lodge, which is this phenomenal facility that is more than a hotel. You have to have a caregiver and you have to live more than 40 miles from the hospital to qualify for living there. It's not income-based. So you have your own room and bathroom, like a hotel. It has a separate sitting area, like a living room with a TV. And then there is a common kitchen, which is away from all the rooms. So you can't bring any food to your rooms because people can be very sensitive to smells when they're uh going through their treatments. Everybody there has cancer. The kitchens are fully equipped. There, there are seven or eight different stations that have a full stove and oven and microwave, and then you're given a drawer for all your dried goods. You have a freezer space, there's a community pantry, so you can base your shopping off of what's already in the pantry. There are volunteers from the community that come and cook meals. Sometimes when we were there the first two weeks, three different meals were prepared. We weren't there for two of them, but it's nice to know that people are coming in and you know, providing awesome meals.
SPEAKER_00And what's nice is your husband gets to stay there with you.
SPEAKER_01Right. So, so my husband will be there for the first two weeks, and then he's got to come home and get back to work. And my sister's gonna come for the third week, and she's a nurse. She's gonna be my transition helper to get me to the Hope Lodge and get me set up there, and then my mom's gonna come for the last two weeks. Nice and she'll fly home with me then and stay with us in the house. My dad's gonna come back, my mother-in-law's gonna be here while like for the whole month of February. Like it's it's a it's a lot. It's a lot.
SPEAKER_00It seems like you have a good team there because then you've got your children, and you said you're the younger ones, you're going this way for different sports, and so someone's gonna take care of that because your husband also works. So you've got a lot of moving balls here. Yes, very many. Struggling a lot. And you know, you stay smiling, you stay positive. I really think that's a great attitude that you have because what you're going through is life-changing. Yep, it sure is. What's gonna and what's gonna happen once you do get that stem cell transplant? How's your what's supposed what are they telling you is gonna happen with your body when you go through that?
SPEAKER_01Um, there is not yet a cure for it. And there are varying degrees of multiple myeloma. You can have smoldering myeloma, which is inactive, and you can have that for sometimes decades, um, to very aggressive myeloma, which is what I have. And so what the stem cell transplant does is it helps to kick the can down the road as far as it can be, um, to hopefully put me into remission for some amount of time. And it could be 18 months, it could be three to five years, maybe it's longer than that. In the meantime, there's always research going on. And when it comes back, then there will be another treatment plan. So after I return home, I still can't be out in public a lot. My immune system has been completely obliterated, and I will have to get all my baby shots and all the immunizations again. I do have a follow-up appointment out there at the end of April. They'll do another bone marrow biopsy and a PET scan, and that will create my next steps. I'm expecting to be on some maintenance drugs, and that'll tell us what we need. And then I'll have annual checkups, and then things just get decided from there.
SPEAKER_00So your DNA is gonna change.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and with myeloma, it's changing already. The chromosomes can change. Each myeloma patient is very different, and therefore, treatment plans are different. No two people are alike. It's really weird and frustrating and a little scary because there's no strict plan in how that works. If you if you do get diagnosed, as long as you're not in um the uh smoldering, then there are four medications that are given to every patient to begin with, but then after that transplant, it changes for everybody.
SPEAKER_00Are there different signs that you're aware of that people can look for or expect to go through?
SPEAKER_01Um, yes, some people don't even know it. It's often an incidental finding. I know people that didn't have lesions. Maybe there's one break that happens and then because of lab work, it gets diagnosed that way. And you may or may not even have pain or fractures or lesions. Because it's so different for each person, it doesn't necessarily mean that you can be looking out for something. I think it really starts with if you have high calcium, maybe that's a sign. I also was treated for hyperparathyroidism. That's what they thought it was. I don't know if that was all part of it too, maybe, because I don't have that anymore. I wasn't treated for it. I said I was treated for it. It was just something that showed up in labs, but it's not there now. But the pain, if you're having it's it's most likely rib and spine pain is something that you have and it's getting worse and not going away. Make sure you get lab work done. That's that is the best thing to do because for some reason it doesn't necessarily show up on x-rays. It it will on a CT, but they don't readily do CTs because they're expensive and they're higher dose of radiation. And also being an X-ray tech, all of our imaging, there's so much less radiation than there was even in the 90s when I was starting to get into that career.
SPEAKER_00You've been through a lot in less than a year. And uh I remember seeing you in April in Florida at the Leap conference. And at that time you were sick and not feeling well. Is that all part of it in hindsight looking back at that?
SPEAKER_01I wonder because I had a fever. I had um, and it said that you can have low grade fevers, so it's entirely possible. Yeah, because you just couldn't shake it. Yeah, yeah. It all goes together. You look back and you're like, oh, here are all the signs, and I was doing the right thing. I was getting checked up on, but I also didn't have a primary care doctor. My doctor had moved in March and I didn't have the time, and I didn't want to look for a new doctor, and I was so busy with work and the kids and everything, I just kept kicking that can down too. And that's why I was using urgent care in the ER because I didn't have a primary care doctor to check in with.
SPEAKER_00The thing that also really impresses me with you is you're still working. You're still doing what you have to do to make ends meet. And tell tell us a little bit about everything that you've been doing while undergoing all these tests and procedures.
SPEAKER_01When you're in the hospital and you have clients who are closing on houses in the same week, you are very grateful when your broker and his wife come in and have a real heart-to-heart. And you know, they supported me, they brought food for the family, helped me get connected with the right agents that could help me get through the immediate necessity. Um, and I'm so grateful um for those people so much. I haven't had um any clients that I have right now, I am referring them out or partnering with another agent. So I'm not um a hundred percent with anybody, and um and but what I do continue to do is the education part. I I'm still having conversations with people, and most importantly, I'm plugging in almost every morning with our senior home coach group. And um Mondays with my brokers meeting, he even said, take time off. You need to take this time to yourself. But I get fueled by the energy that is coming from everybody else. So sharing my wins in the real estate world and within the senior home coach and staying connected with people and continuing to make other friends. I mean, going to Salt Lake City, there was um a realtor that we met through two different online platforms within the past few years. And we've texted, we might have talked on the phone, but she lives in Salt Lake City. So of course I'm gonna see her while I'm there. She and her husband became senior home coaches as well. So we plan on visiting while I'm out there. I can't let any of that go. You guys give me energy. You've been amazing. The the cards, the gifts, the text messages, just everything. You stay connected to your people because sitting on a couch and watching TV is not my jam to begin with. And I need to get out and walk. So why not have somebody walk with me or plugging into a podcast or whatever that is?
SPEAKER_00If you're going through this and you don't have the support system that you have, I'm sure there's groups out there that can support that.
SPEAKER_01There are local myeloma um support group here at the hospital. You can plug into groups on Facebook. If one group doesn't fit you, find another one. I was in one that was all ages, and the average age of a multiple myeloma patient is 70. I'm 48. I'm nowhere near that. So finding the group that is 50 and under, and you know, it's parents, it's kids, it's all the things that are the same as me. And how do we continue to work? Some people have to go on disability, some people can't work again. I don't intend to let myself go that way. I felt that way in August and September. I was like, how in the world am I ever gonna do this again? But there's so much that I can even do just this, you know, being on Zoom, being on a phone, whatever that is, um, or sharing my story and helping other people in the myeloma world.
SPEAKER_00I can do that. And that's important. Colleen, I want to thank you for being here today and ask if there's anything that we can leave our listeners with.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much for allowing me to share my story. It's so important for each person to share their story. What I would say is find somebody that can be your person. If it's a spouse, if it's a friend. When my husband went back to work and my all the parents went back, my mother-in-law had been here too. Uh my dear friend Lisa, she's been my driver. She's been everything here. I have other friends that are not local and I talk with them, but surround yourself with whoever you can. If you have a church, whatever community you're part of, if they can help with meals, nobody knows how to help until you tell them. Everybody wants to help. Put them to work, have them clean your house, have them give you a ride, have them take a walk with you, whatever that is. That is what has kept me going so much, is just being with people and and helping them by them helping me.
SPEAKER_00You're amazing. And that is so true. People want to help, we just have to let them.
SPEAKER_01And it's hard for those of us who are caregivers or who have always been the go-to person for everything else. It's hard for both my husband and me to accept the things. But you just have to. You just have to, and it's okay.
SPEAKER_00Yes, I truly appreciate you sharing your story, and we will continue this story when you get back from Salt Lake City to see the last leg of your journey and how it went. Amazing. Thank you, Rebecca. My pleasure. Conversations like this matter, especially when an illness often goes unnoticed until it becomes personal. If today's episode brought clarity or understanding, please consider sharing it with someone who may need to hear it. Awareness helps families recognize concerns sooner and feel less alone in the process. Thank you for joining me today on Senior's Home Zones. Until next time, take care of yourself and those you love.