Multiple Myeloma Cancer Support Group

Elliot Recht talks about Cancer Support Group for Multiple Myeloma

Please feel free to click on the photo of Elliot Recht and listen to his invitation to attend and become a member of the Multiple Myeloma Cancer Support Group in San Diego.

How Our Myeloma Cancer Support Group Got Started

With courage as his biggest weapon against myeloma, Fred Gloor, with the incredible support of his wife Virginia, had fought valiantly for 12 years against a disease for which there is no cure. It was in 1992 he received a diagnosis of MGUS. Learning that he only had a 25% chance of developing myeloma, Mr. Gloor planned for retirement; a full plate of enjoying life. Just as he retired in 1995 he learned the disease had progressed to myeloma. It was then the battle began in earnest.

Fred Gloor, diagnosised with MGUS, founded the Cancer Support Group focusing on Multiple Myeloma Support in San Diego

In the long run, his battle has produced many victories, including the founding of the San Diego Multiple Myeloma Support Group. In the beginning Mr. Gloor struggled through treatments not knowing one other myeloma patient. After finishing a stem cell transplant treatment in July of 1997, he began attending a support group for patients who had stem cell transplants. It was there that he met two other myeloma patients and the need for a support group dedicated to myeloma became clear. During this same period, Mr. Gloor discovered the IMF and learned that there was no support group in San Diego. The challenge from the IMF to Mr. Gloor was to start a local support group and in his usual courageous manner, he thought "why not?"

Mr. Gloor recalls how his life changed when he started the group. He believes myeloma ordained him to help others with this disease in any way possible. Every time he talked with a newly diagnosed patient or family member he gained courage as he helped alleviate their fear and gave them hope. He often quoted a phrase from Dr. Bernie Segal, "there are no incurable diseases, only incurable people." His straightforward advice to anyone battling the disease was to become an exceptional cancer patient, to be proactive and take control of his or her disease.

In seven short years, with Mr. Gloor leading the charge, the San Diego Myeloma Support Group grew from its initial five members to a very active and well-attended 70-member group. Mr. Gloor believed that without the support group he would not have had the success he had in battling the disease. Thinking back to the beginning, Mr. Gloor recalled how the IMF, by providing information, allows patients to overcome fear and focus on their recovery.

Mr. Gloor grew up in San Diego and graduated from Saint Augustine High School. He graduated from the California Maritime Academy, spent three years in the Navy and 30 plus years as a sea going man. Mr. Gloor has sailed most of the Pacific between Alaska to the South Pole, his last 12 years as Master Mariner and Captain of the SS President Harrison.

Jack Williams

San Diego Union Tribune Staff Writer

The Multiple Myeloma Support Group of San Diego wishes to thank Virginia Gloor for her continued support for the Multiple Myeloma Cancer Support Group in San Diego.

"Dear San Diego Support Group Members:

In 1989 three people sat in a coffee shop in London talking about what they could do to help make a difference for myeloma patients. Those three people were Brian Novis, Dr. Brian Durie and myself, Susie Novis. Little did we realize at the time how that conversation would not only change our own lives but the lives of thousands and thousands of people around the world. The dream of starting the IMF soon became a reality and in October 1990 Brian Novis, working out of a tiny basement office in our home, officially opened the IMF for business. And as they say, the rest is history. I'd like to invite you to take a walk with me down memory lane to see what we've accomplished over the past seventeen years www.myeloma.org. The progress we've made is because people just like you, have reached out to lend a helping hand. We couldn't have accomplished what we have without the support of people from all walks of life and from all over the world - patients, family members, friends, doctors, researchers, corporations and foundations, people who in some way have been touched by myeloma. But before we start our walk, on behalf of the IMF and the members we serve, I would like to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to those who have helped make miracles happen.

The San Diego Support Group has a great opportunity. Dr. Durie and the IMF would like to help San Diego to develop as a stronger center for Myeloma development. We plan on educating the San Diego Doctors and keeping them up to date with the latest changes and treatments in Myeloma. This will benefit everyone."

Susie Novis

Multiple Myeloma Support Group in San Diego was selected as a Finalist

The Multiple Myeloma Cancer Support Group in San Diego was selected as a Finalist in the Third Annual “San Diego Business Journal’s” Health Care Champion Award contest. Many of the top healthcare providers in San Diego had entered the competition.

Health Care Champions is an event and special supplement that recognizes individuals and/or organizations in the County of San Diego health care industry that are making a significant impact on the quality of health care.

Health Care Categories for Nomination: Elliot Recht accepts Finalist Award on behalf of the Multiple Myeloma Support Group of San Diego

Health Care Management
Health Care Innovation & Research
Health Care Educator
Community Outreach
Physician
Nurse
Health Care Staff

The San Diego Cancer Support Group entered under the Community Outreach category for it's Multiple Myeloma Support in the San Diego area. The support group feels very lucky to have been selected, not only to be recognized, but also to be presented a Finalist award.

International Myeloma Foundation Sponsors Conference in San Diego

The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) in conjunction with the Multiple Myeloma Support Group San Diego, sponsored a national conference on Multiple Myeloma in August of 2008 here in San Diego. The conference being held here shows how the San Diego Multiple Myeloma Support Group is an integral part of the IMF.

Guest speakers included opening remarks by Susie Novis, IMF founder; and Dr. Brian Durie, Chair for the IMF. Other Guest speakers included Dr. Morie Gertz; Dr. Angelina Dizpenzieri, both of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN, and Dr. Keith Stewart of the Mayo Clinic in Tucson.

One aspect of the conference that was appreciated by all of the attendees, over 300 hundred people from all over the U.S. attended the conference, allowed for “one on one” discussion groups with each of the doctors. Each Dr. spoke about a different aspect of Multiple Myeloma and how to deal with Myeloma symptoms.

Subjects ranged from MGUS; smoldering myeloma, Multiple Myeloma treatment therapy and new medications including Revlimid, Velcade, Melphalan and Zometa (one of the newest bone enhancing drugs on the market). Recommendations for separate tests to be done included bone surveys, serum free light chain assays (one of the newest detectors of Multiple Myeloma); Pet Scans, because they show more than the typical x-ray and MRI scans; the latest drug therapies being tested right now, and a special “one on one” seminar for families, caregivers and friends of Myeloma patients.

It isn’t often that a patient can have a “one on one” question and answer session with some of the leading Myeloma researchers and Drs. In the U.S.

San Diego Multiple Myeloma Cancer Support Group Meetings

Guest Speakers 2007 - Present