Submitted to the Quesnel Observer
In early 2015, Cyndi Logan’s life changed drastically. After months of feeling extreme fatigue and severe back pain, the energetic Quesnel mother of three received shocking news: she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, or myeloma, a little-known and incurable blood cancer. Logan was just 39 years old.
Overwhelmed by her initial diagnosis, Logan has since found a sense of empowerment. She is determined to raise awareness for myeloma and help educate others on recent treatment breakthroughs and the importance of finding a cure.
Logan was no stranger to an active daily life. So, when she started experiencing fatigue, she assumed it was the aftermath of the marathon she had just run. A short while later, when she started training regularly for a half marathon, she couldn’t catch her breath and struggled to keep up with her friends.
It wasn’t until Logan began experiencing excruciating back pain that she knew something was seriously wrong. After months of worsening pain and countless visits to physiotherapists, massage therapists and a chiropractor, Logan’s doctor ordered an X-ray. The results showed a compression fracture in her spine. Uncertain of the root cause, doctors ran more tests, and Logan underwent a bone marrow biopsy. Finally, in January 2015, Logan would get her answer — not only did she have three compression fractures, but her kidneys were starting to fail. Logan had myeloma.
Shortly after her diagnosis, Logan began her first treatment: induction therapy and a stem cell transplant. The procedure, along with several treatments and maintenance chemotherapy, was a success and kept the myeloma at bay for six years. Logan experienced a relapse in September 2021 and has recently undergone a second stem cell transplant.
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“While myeloma is the second most common form of blood cancer, few people have ever heard of it,” notes a news release by Myeloma Canada, a non-profit organization supporting people living with multiple myeloma. “The reality is that the number of Canadians living with myeloma rises every year, underlining the urgent need for greater investment in, and access to, life-saving treatments and care.”
Myeloma has put Logan’s life in perspective and has brought with it many challenges. The biggest one, Logan says, is being immuno-compromised living in a world with COVID-19. Still recovering from her stem cell transplant, Logan is vulnerable. She, her three teenage daughters, and husband all must be extremely vigilant. “It’s been hard having to restrict my girls with how many people they see,” she says.
Moreover, having to deal with constant treatment side effects, chronic pain, and fatigue, Logan has had to grieve for some of the things she once aspired to do that she is no longer able to do, such as becoming a school principal and finishing her master’s degree.
Despite the difficulties, she maintains a positive outlook.
Since her diagnosis seven years ago, Logan has been the co-leader of the Northern BC Multiple Myeloma Support Group where she provides support to others who are newly diagnosed.
To help raise awareness and funds as well as better access to life-saving treatments and care for this incurable cancer, Logan, along with her family, will be leading the inaugural 5-km Quesnel Multiple Myeloma March on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 10 a.m. at the Fuel Management Trails on Quesnel-Hixon Road.
“Every year, we’re getting closer to finding a cure,” said Martine Elias, executive director of Myeloma Canada. “That’s why the funds raised at the Quesnel Multiple Myeloma March are so critical. They help to keep myeloma research moving forward and to improve the lives of Canadians impacted by this devastating disease.”
For more information on the nationwide event, visit myelomamarch.ca.
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