This is who we are

So what is ME Against Myeoma? And what are we doing?

We are primarily family of Mike Poulin. We are wives, sons, daughters, in-laws, and grand kids. We are also the donors who give much needed money to fund the research that will find a cure. We are you. And we will be successful in finding a cure. 

ME Against Myeloma raises money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), the nation's largest private funder of multiple myeloma research. Founded in 1998 by a myeloma patient, MMRF has done amazing things over the past almost two decades. Prior to the creation of MMRF there was little hope and even less advancement in the world of multiple myeloma. MMRF changed that. As one of the nation's highest ranked charities, MMRF has been instrumental in getting six myeloma drugs FDA approved in little over a decade (while putting over 90% of all donation towards research or research related pursuits). MMRF funded the mapping of the myeloma genome. And MMRF has given hope to millions.  

In January 2013 we created the team ME Against Myeloma as a way to raise money for MMRF. We have run up the Empire State Building (twice), ridden our first 100-mile bike ride, run our first half-marathon, run our first 10k, and completed our first sprint triathlon. More importantly, we have raised over $14,000!

That was our first 13 months. We have much more planned for the years ahead. If you would like to become involved please contact us through our Facebook page. If you would like to donate, you can do so here. 

Together we can find a cure.

Together we can prove that nothing is incurable. 

Nothing Is Incurable

In November of 2011 he broke the news.

Cancer.

More specifically something called "multiple myeloma," a yet-to-be cured form of blood cancer with one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers. Hearts stopped and no one breathed. A few months later the diagnosis was confirmed at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He had smoldering myeloma, a pre-cursor to full blown multiple myeloma.

Since then we, as a family, have decided that the diagnosis was not the end. It was just the beginning. It was the beginning of our efforts to find a cure. It was the beginning of ensuring the grandkids really knew their grandfather. It was the beginning of putting our bodies through countless miles of running or biking or swimming to raise awareness of this disease.

Much of the literature on multiple myeloma refers to it as an "incurable" cancer. But we don't believe that. While multiple myeloma has one of the lowest 5 year survival rates of all cancers, we know of people who have had it for over a decade. We know that it is an exciting time in the quest for a cure.

We know that nothing is incurable.

Since the diagnosis we have started running again and, in some cases, started running period. We have taken up new sports so we can spread the word about the fight against multiple myeloma. We have reassessed priorities and decided that having family close by is one of the best medicines. We created the team ME Against Myeloma to raise money for the research that will eventually save his life. We chose to fight.