March is Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month, and every year it gives me a moment to pause and reflect on this journey I never expected to be on.

It is also a time when I try to educate others about this disease because many people have never even heard the words multiple myeloma until it affects someone they love.

One of the first medical terms people often hear after entering the myeloma world is CRAB.

And when I first heard it, I remember thinking for a moment…

CRAB?

Are we talking about seafood or a medical term?

But in the world of multiple myeloma, CRAB is actually an acronym doctors use to describe some of the ways the disease shows up in the body.

CRAB stands for

C Elevated calcium
R Renal or kidney problems
A Anemia
B Bone damage

Those four letters might seem simple, but for many people living with multiple myeloma they represent very real symptoms that can dramatically change your life.

In my case, I experienced several of them.

And the one that affected me the most was bone damage.