What a strange year this has been for all of us. Our lives have been full of virtual meetings for work and school as well as the safest way to get together with family and friends. The 62nd American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting (ASH) will be no different. ASH will be an all-virtual meeting this year. Last year, I was so honored to be invited to participate by the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) for the first time. That opportunity gave me a chance to experience the long days, sore feet, and incredible amount of information that is presented. This year, there is still a lot of information to process, but I will be doing so from the comfort of my home office, probably wearing my slippers. And, as another IMF support group team member commented, I can control the temperature in my “virtual meeting room!”
Having relapsed this year, I am interested in hearing about therapies for treating relapsed/refractory myeloma and what role a second autologous stem cell transplant will play, if any, for patients. I will also be following information on CAR T-cell trial updates, with hopes that this will be FDA approved soon.
So, as I sit in my home office in Idaho, with a few flurries, and 32 degrees, I daydream about what San Diego would have been like this year. I will miss warmer weather, but I will really miss the warm camaraderie and interaction with my fellow support group team members.