Inspired by his own fight with cancer, Newmarket resident Nic Ahola is preparing for the fourth annual Newmarket Multiple Myeloma March Sept. 25.
Ahola and his wife, Kristy, started the march to raise funds for research and to raise awareness of the blood cancer — which even he had never heard of until he was diagnosed with it in 2016.
"It all started when I went to the doctor's for a routine check," he said. "There was abnormalities in my blood and we ended up starting to investigate that a little bit."
Ahola was referred to an oncologist and had a biopsy done from his hip, which determined that he has multiple myeloma.
"I didn't know anything about what it was. So we started doing some research about it and understanding what it was and realizing that it's an incurable cancer and is a blood cancer and so again, I didn't really realize what I was in for because I was stable at the time," he said.
He remained stable for about two years, he said, but in 2018 things got rapidly worse. It was around his wife's 40th birthday and they were hosting a party. While setting up, Ahola said his back was bothering him but he tried to brush it off. As the days went by, it got progressively worse.
Shortly after the party, they were set to go on a trip to Las Vegas, however, Ahola said his pain continued to worsen and he lost function in one of his arms. He went to the emergency room the day before departing and had some x-rays. He said he was told it was a frozen shoulder, and while it was painful, it would go away.
"So we flew to Vegas and the pain got worse and worse and worse and total total trip was terrible," he said.
They came home to find a note from the hospital informing them to contact his oncologist. He said the x-rays showed a number of fractures all over his body.
"I ended up having these holes in my bones. That's how myeloma attacks the bones, so it creates kind of like craters in the bones that weakens them and that's how they break. So that was the start of everything," he said.
Ahola said he had fractures in his spine, ribs, shoulders and collarbone and had been walking around with a broken back.
"The pain was so excruciating that I don't even know what to compare it to," he said.
That was the first time his myeloma became active. He went in for a round of treatments and had surgery on his back that he said reduced his pain by about 75 per cent, a massive improvement. The cancer never truly goes away as it's incurable but it went into remission for a few years.
Just this past July, it became active again but Ahola said knowing what to expect this time around meant they could get ahead of it more and combat the pain before it got too bad. He is now on another regimen of chemotherapy.
He said when he was first diagnosed, it was surreal to think that it's an incurable cancer.
"We didn't know about this cancer. We didn't know anything about it. So as soon as you hear the words that it's incurable, it's like, oh, OK, well I'm dying then," he said.
However, in the past several years, he and Kristy have been researching and trying to learn about multiple myeloma as well as raising awareness and funds for research. That's why they started the Newmarket Multiple Myeloma March in 2019.
"My wife is really the ringleader of it. She started it. She's the one that was really pushing for, you know, trying to raise funds for research and she's the one who does all the research on our behalf," Ahola said. "I'm so lucky to have a partner like my wife because her focus is looking after me and raising funds for this march and organizing it, where I'm able to focus on my treatments right now."
The march takes place Sept. 25 at 9 a.m. at Riverwalk Commons in Newmarket. The three kilometre and five-kilometre routes will lead participants around the Fairy Lake area. The past two years, the march has been virtual but it will be an in-person event this year.
It aims to raise $50,000 for Myeloma Canada, an non-profit organization that funds the Canadian Myeloma Research Group.
"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 Newmarket March are so critical. They’ll help to keep myeloma research moving forward and to improve the lives of Canadians impacted by this devastating disease.”
Ahola said all the work being done by doctors and researchers gives him hope that myeloma could become a chronic disease rather than seen as incurable.
"I'll take that in a heartbeat over anything that's going on rather than having cancer and feeling the doom," he said.
On top of raising funds for research, Ahola said he wants to raise awareness about this cancer, which is the second most common blood cancer, and tell people about the importance of early diagnosis.
"For me, I would never have known if I didn't go for my regular physical. So it all stemmed from that and seeing the blood work come back abnormal," he said. "There's the awareness part that we're trying to get out, as well about the physicals and trying to catch things before they happen."
Despite currently undergoing treatments, Ahola said he will be participating in the walk on Sept. 25. You can register for the walk or donate to the cause online.
