International Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation

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International Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation

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Stories of Hope

Share Your Story

Sharing your story with us is a fantastic way for you to help others who are traveling down the same path that you are — whether you are a patient, caregiver, or family member— we would love to hear from you.

Patients and others who visit our website often tell us that one of their favorite features of our communications are the stories of the lives of people who are affected by WM. We would very much enjoy learning about you, your story, and how your experiences can motivate, help and inspire others we serve.

We invite you to read, enjoy, and learn from the following first-person stories by patients and caregivers, worldwide, affected by WM.

If you are interested in sharing your story with us so that we may share it with others on our website, please submit your contact details.

Timothy Salz: A Song of Hope

Timothy Salz: A Song of Hope

Please listen to Tim's song here . My Waldenstrom’s (WM) story officially began in January of 2018, two days after my 70th birthday. Happy Birthday Tim! Unofficially, I believe it began many years – or possibly, even many decades – before that. I...

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A Story of Hope: Michael Knowlton

A Story of Hope: Michael Knowlton

From Canada- A Story of Hope: Michael Knowlton From Michael Knowlton: Kindness is a beautiful thing, both as the recipient, and as the giver. Living with cancer (WM) in my life has reminded me of the importance of being a force for good and working...

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Peter Haarmann: Treatment, Healing and Faith

Peter Haarmann: Treatment, Healing and Faith

In the summer of 2014, I became slightly short of breath during a hike up a granite dome mountain called “The Thumb” at Sequoia National Park. This was highly unusual for me. I have been a high-energy person my entire life, working in the...

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Jennifer Hoegerman: My WM Story

Jennifer Hoegerman: My WM Story

Published in the IWMF Torch , November 2014, pages 15-18 *Updated January 2020* Jennifer Hoegerman’s life is, by every measure, an active one filled with parental and professional commitments, volunteerism of a challenging sort, an enthusiasm for...

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Lisa Weldy: I’m Myself Again…After WM Took Over My Life

Lisa Weldy: I’m Myself Again…After WM Took Over My Life

I’ve come to learn that none of us with WM has a “typical” journey. This very rare blood cancer affects us all so differently, not just with symptoms, treatments, and severity, but also with age of diagnosis. When I was 28 and a new mom to my first...

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Ryan Scofield’s Story: We’re All in this Together

Ryan Scofield’s Story: We’re All in this Together

Ryan’s story was first published in the in the IWMF Torch, January 2015, page 21. This is an update to that story. I was diagnosed with WM in 2010 when I was 35. At the time, my son was barely a year old. I had moved to Chicago with my wife twelve...

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From UK – Roger Brown: Why It Pays Never to Give Up

From UK – Roger Brown: Why It Pays Never to Give Up

This is an update to ROGER’S STORY published on www.iwmf.com ON DECEMBER 11, 2014   Multiple cycles of chemo and relapse, followed by an autologous stem cell transplant. The photo shows the last of my hair coming off during transplant!       ...

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Stephen French: My Twenty-Year Journey with WM

Stephen French: My Twenty-Year Journey with WM

I have had a long journey with Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia.  I have had good news and bad news during this period, but the good news has been with me for over sixteen years.  I hope it lasts a whole lot longer.  I was diagnosed with WM in...

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Chris Moakley: I’d Rather Have Won the Powerball

Chris Moakley: I’d Rather Have Won the Powerball

Chris’s  story was first published on www.iwmf.com on September 15, 2014, with the author’s approval, as a reprint from the Cancer Support Community of Lehigh Valley, www.cancersupportglv.org/get-support/stories-of-hope/chris(link is external)....

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Megan Davey: Our Family is Alive and Kickin’

Megan Davey: Our Family is Alive and Kickin’

It has been 8 years and 5 months since my husband Mark was diagnosed with a disease that the oncologist we had only met a few days earlier had to spell out. If you are here at the International Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation’s website,...

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Tom White: From Rituxan Project Team to WM Patient

Tom White: From Rituxan Project Team to WM Patient

Story first published in the IWMF Torch Magazine in October 2012, pages 13, 34-35. Update published on www.iwmf.com  in September 2018 My Work on the Rituximab Core Team It all began in 1971 when, armed with a BS in Chemistry and an MBA, I began my...

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Peter DeNardis – There is Life with Waldenstrom’s

Peter DeNardis – There is Life with Waldenstrom’s

  “Get your affairs in order.” “You have a rare, incurable blood cancer called Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia.” “Average survival rate is 6 years.” “Given your symptoms and blood test values, we have to treat immediately.” Those were jarring...

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