Text a Survivor: Sally Kalksma on Life With Multiple Myeloma

Sally Kalksma was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2008 and has been living with the disease ever since — through treatment, a stem cell transplant and maintenance therapy she remains on today. A competitive stair climber, author and advocate for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, she sat down for CURE's new series "Text a Survivor" to answer the questions patients ask most about life before, during and after treatment.

Asked what it means to hear myeloma described as incurable but treatable, Kalksma reframed the language entirely.

"This is your new normal," she said. "Everybody, as they get older, is living with something, whether it's heart disease, diabetes. This is multiple myeloma, and this is the medicine you're going to be on for the rest of your life."

On the difference between cure and control, she explained that her care team's goal is keeping her alive as long as possible, which means staying on maintenance therapy and monitoring her levels at regular checkups. If something stops working, she said, they adjust.

For patients facing a stem cell transplant, her advice was direct: "Do your research. Reach out to others that had transplants and ask them every question possible." She credited those conversations with helping her prepare for her own.

Kalksma acknowledged that scan-related anxiety does not fully go away. Her approach is to control her thoughts, stay positive and stay prepared. She also noted that she once applied for a clinical trial, though it had already begun by the time she needed treatment.

As for how she does it all: "You only live once. You want to control multiple myeloma. You don't want it to control you, so you live every single day to the fullest."

To watch the previous episode click here!

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