I am Mary

In 2019, aged 44, I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, an incurable blood cancer with an average life expectancy of five years. The emotional toll was overwhelming. I grieved the life I thought I’d lose, especially the future I imagined with my young daughters and loving husband.

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I had always considered myself a strong, healthy person, rarely going to the doctor and avoiding medication as much as possible, so watching toxic chemotherapy running through my veins was a major mental challenge. I left each session a curious yellow hue, fatigued and with an immune system that was so depleted it was safest to stay isolated at home. It was a lonely, terrifying time and my life felt tossed about by busy specialists following protocols ....unseen ... and the sense of disempowerment was immense.

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Then the pandemic hit.

 

At that point, I was told my next step was a bone marrow transplant. It might suppress the cancer for longer, but it would also decimate my already fragile immune system. My gut screamed NO! But every doctor insisted it was my best chance.

I travelled to Pretoria for an intense round of chemotherapy and to harvest my stem cells. The hospital was chaotic, my husband wasn’t allowed to accompany me, and I felt the terror of my vulnerability as COVID spread mercilessly. As the drug that would annihilate my immune system was administered, I held onto my faith as all else seemed uncertain.

 

I returned to KZN with relief and was given a week to recover before travelling back for the transplant. As  my hair started to fall out in clumps, I resolved not to be a helpless passenger in my healing.  I needed to reclaim  some control over my destiny.  I began researching and spent hours on forums around the world until I found a top US haemaetologist who agreed to speak with me. That consult was worth every dollar as he confirmed my fears regarding the transplant and I decided definitively not to go ahead with it. It was as though a blanket of darkness had lifted.

 

From there I found a supportive South African haemaetologist  and immersed myself in studying Integrative nutrition and lifestyle measures to help my body alongside low dose chemo.  The cancer was staying away but then came another blow... 

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Osteoporosis

Often called a “silent cancer” Multiple Myeloma can go undetected for years, quietly weakening the bones and the immune system. I had chalked up my persistent back and hip pain to old sports injuries. Then the  thirst started and ultimately my kidneys began to fail due to dangerously high calcium levels in my blood. This was how I first discovered I had the disease.

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A year into treatment,  I fell while riding and discovered healing fractures on my x-ray. When had these happened? I took myself for a DEXA scan and the results made my blood run cold. I had osteoporosis of my spine and osteopaenia in both hips. 

The blows kept coming. My new haemaetologist discovered overlooked elevated PTH levels from when I was first diagnosed - parathyroid markers which control calcium levels in the blood.  I had to have immediate surgery to stop the rogue gland as it was relentlessly siphoning out calcium from my already ravaged bones.  But the accumulative damage from the cancer and then the parathyroid had already been done. To say I was angry at the failed early diagnosis of hyperparathyroidism would be an understatement.

 

I knew that harbouring resentment would be to my mental and therefore physical detriment and nothing could reverse the year of continued bone depletion. Could I do anything to rebuild what was lost? I added this new problem to my research and started studying safe movement protocols for osteoporosis. I discovered the far reaching benefits of yoga and met a wonderful instructor who trained me so that I could teach others to move safely, adding weight bearing exercise, walks in nature and increasingly venturing into movement I never thought I'd be able to achieve again. Movement became medicine. It boosted my immune system and lifted my mood on the darkest days.

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By now deeply immersed in trying to live as healthily as possible and finding the balance between restriction and joy, I went for my second DEXA scan. The results were incredible: every score had improved. My spine was on the verge of moving from osteoporosis back to osteopenia—no HRT, no bisphosphonates. Just trust in the body’s innate desire to heal, when given the right environment.

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Whether you’re navigating a diagnosis, living with chronic illness, or simply ready to take better care of your health and you want to prevent rather than have to cure —you don’t have to do it alone.

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I’m here to walk alongside you as you embrace what’s possible.

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Mary