WITH the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) at the forefront, Myeloma Awareness/Action Month is held every year for the whole month of March to encourage individuals and groups to take actions that positively impact the myeloma community.

This year the IMF invites YOU to take the action of storytelling.

Stories evoke empathy and foster hope. They help us better understand ourselves and others. The IMF will engage the global myeloma community by sharing stories about members of the myeloma community who live well with myeloma and by prompting others to share their stories.

Yelak Biru, president and CEO of the IMF and a 27-year myeloma survivor, shares his story to inspire others to do the same: “As a young immigrant from Ethiopia, a new husband, and a graduate student, I learned I had multiple myeloma at the age of 26. While the road of living with myeloma has not always been smooth, it has been paved with many valuable lessons along the way. One of those lessons is that we must learn to live with, and not for, myeloma. This Myeloma Action Month, I ask you — as patients, care partners, and anyone who has been touched by this incurable disease — to share how you live well with and not for myeloma.”

Biru’s call to action is just one example of the many ways the IMF will prompt individuals and groups to share their stories on social media with the hashtag #MYelomaSTORY.

Help the IMF spread myeloma awareness on a global scale by using the hashtag #MYelomaSTORY, on all social media channels — Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Using the #MYelomaSTORY hashtag, all related posts will be displayed on the IMF’s digital “Wall of Stories” at the Myeloma Action Month website: mam.myeloma.org.

How can you get involved in Myeloma Action Month?

Take Action

• Join the movement and take action for myeloma by using the MAM website photo uploader in mam.myeloma.org. All you need to do is upload a photo of your chosen action, put a caption to it, and then share with the community through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Your image will automatically include the hashtag #MYelomaSTORY in your post.

• The IMF will provide story-based infographics that share stats and facts based on first-hand experiences from patients and care partners in the myeloma community. These graphical

prompts will be on all IMF social media channels. Follow along each day at facebook.com/myeloma to respond to these prompts and share your stories.

• Visit mam.myeloma.org to watch an international video mash-up featuring members of the global myeloma community answering the question: “Tell us in one word, what is your

myeloma story?”

• Get inspired with guest blogs from patients and their care partners on the sentiment of “living with — and not for — myeloma”

• Download this Patient Action Letter from IMF Chairman and Chief Science Officer Dr Brian GM Durie, personalise it, and send it to general practitioners and internists. The letter spells out potential myeloma signs, symptoms, and diagnostic tests that can be used to educate healthcare providers who may not be as familiar with the disease.

• Find a virtual support group at myeloma.org/support-groups and join an upcoming meeting

Participate and Learn

Sign up for and participate in the IMF’s scheduled virtual and/or in-person information programmes for the whole month of March.

IMF Patient and Family Seminar — Boca Raton, Florida. This free, in-person event on March 17-18, 2023, has limited seating. Register today!

Join us live on Facebook on 3/22 @ 4 pm PT / 7 pm ET

IMF Chief Medical Officer Dr Joseph Mikhael answers your questions in a special Q&A and shares his myeloma story on 3/7 @ 4 pm PT / 7 pm ET

IMF Nurse Leadership board member Dr Beth Faiman discusses living well with myeloma and shares her myeloma story.

Experience and Nurture

The IMF is excited to share with you a 31-day wellness challenge. This year during March Action Month we work together, take accountability, to increase the visibility of myeloma and take action through your #MYelomaSTORY and whole wellness within ourselves.

We at the IMF, challenge YOU to put yourself on the top of that “to-do list” and join us in this wellness challenge. Learn how to take part in the Support Group Challenge here.

We welcome new and prospective members to join the Jamaica Multiple Myeloma Support Group using any of the following contacts: e-mail: jamaica@imfsupport.org; WhatsApp: 876-829 5507; website: myelomajamaica.org