Building a Support System Through Diagnosis and Recovery

Kimberly Alexander and Jordan Woy reflect on how they first connected through the NFL community and how Woy reacted to learning that Elijah Alexander had multiple myeloma years before his own diagnosis. Woy describes the close friends and relatives who drove him to appointments and checked on him, and he explains how his two daughters moved in to care for him after his stem cell transplant. He also credits fellow patients, including one who has lived with myeloma for 22 years, with offering practical guidance. They close the conversation with advice for patients hesitant to ask for help, ways friends and family can show up meaningfully, and the information available through multiple myeloma nonprofit organizations.

Topics covered:

The role of family and caregivers during treatment and post-transplant recovery
Peer mentorship from long-term multiple myeloma survivors
Practical ways to help a loved one with cancer, plus financial and nonprofit resources

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MORE MULTIPLE MYELOMA CHATS:

Jordan Woy on His Multiple Myeloma Diagnosis, Transplant, and Self-Advocacy

Kimberly Alexander, whose husband and former NFL player Elijah Alexander, died of multiple myeloma in 2010, sits down with longtime friend and NFL agent Jordan Woy to discuss his own 2023 diagnosis. Woy explains how he noticed abnormal results on routine blood work despite feeling healthy, and how a bone marrow biopsy and PET scan confirmed the disease along with a sobering prognosis. He recounts the physical and emotional toll of high-dose chemotherapy and his stem cell transplant, which led to an isolating hospital stay that left him 45 pounds lighter. Woy emphasizes the importance of self-advocacy and peer support for newly diagnosed patients, while sharing the diet and exercise changes he made alongside treatment.