Cathy Williams

I was diagnosed with Light Chain Deposition Diesease (LCDD) and Waldenström Macroglobulinemia (WM) in February 2018. There wasn’t just one thing in particular that was a challenge. Feeling terrible and not knowing what was happening to me was really difficult. I went on a trip in January before my diagnosis, and at the airport, there was an escalator that wasn’t working. I remember looking at couple of stairs, and thinking, “I’m so weak I don’t think I will be able to get up the steps.” Everyday things like getting out of the bathtub had become impossible. Cancer didn’t cross my mind as an explanation to what was happening to me, but after my diagnosis I just wanted to get treatment going, so that I could start to feel better. At the time of my diagnosis, I was also worried about my job and being there for my students. A new semester had just started, and I was responsible for teaching a couple of courses. For the first bit of my stay in the hospital, I continued to lesson plan for my substitute teachers. As I learned more about my diagnosis, I realized that I couldn’t keep going at the pace that I was and that we needed to come up with a permanent replacement for me. One day I just said to myself, “I don’t care about the upcoming science test.” I was so sick, I just needed to focus on myself, and immerse myself into my life at the hospital and getting well.

Currently, I’m back teaching and feeling good. A colleague I don’t see very much, recently passed me in the hallway recently, and he said “by the way, how are you feeling?” I replied with, “great, it’s like the whole thing never happened.” I know that it happened, but in some ways it doesn’t seem possible. Life has continued on.

I felt great at the Light The Night walk, because lots of family came down from Edmonton. The whole evening was affirming and supportive. Fundraising and attending Light The Night is important because The LLSC gives relevant information to the members of the blood cancer community. I’m still on immunosuppressants, and I was concerned about the ramifications of being on immunosuppressants while the Covid-19 pandemic was happening. I attended a couple of the Covid-19 webinars, and I found them very helpful. In the questions period, one of the participants asked my question, and I received an answer. It was comforting to get relevant information.