Aldo Del Col honoured for establishing Myeloma Canada
Aldo Del Col helped create patient resource organization Myeloma Canada
I wanted to ...better understand what I could expect, but there was no (myeloma) support group to turn to.
Aldo Del Col is beating the odds. The former marketing executive from Beaconsfield was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2002 and given three to five years to live. Last week, Del Col was invited to Rideau Hall in Ottawa to receive the Meritorious Service Medal from Gov. Gen. Julie Payette. He received the honour for his work establishing Myeloma Canada, a resource organization for medical professionals, patients and their families battling multiple myeloma. Del Col co-founded Myeloma Canada in 2005 with John Lemieux, who passed away last year. Del Col also established a myeloma research initiative with Toronto-based Dr. Donna Reece. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells that is incurable, but treatable. “I feel overwhelmed,” Del Col said of the honour. “An achievement such as this is never the result of one person. This recognition validates what we have all done.” Del Col is now undergoing his seventh treatment protocol. He is receiving a new drug through Health Canada’s Special Access Program and the pharmaceutical company Karyopharm on a compassionate basis. “Everything else had stopped working,” he said. “So we had to rattle the cage and look for the next treatment. I’m feeling really well right now. The disease is stable. In 2002, there was one treatment option. I’m on my seventh now and when it stops working, which it will, there are four more treatment options out there.” Around 2,500 Canadians are diagnosed with multiple myeloma every year. Most of those diagnosed, on average, are in their mid-60s. For Del Col, it happened in his 40s. He felt tired and generally unwell and had recurring cold sores. He chalked it up to work stress. Then, while walking up his front steps, he heard a sickening sound and felt an excruciating pain in his back. Two vertebrae had compressed. Del Col worked as a pharmacist earlier in his career. He took blood tests and saw that he was anemic and a blood protein was elevated. The blood protein level was a red flag. He underwent a painful bone marrow biopsy and on Sept. 12, 2002, at 48 years old, he received the diagnosis. After the initial shock, Del Col chose to “pull up his socks” and find out more about the disease. “You’ve got to own it,” Del Col said of the disease. “What I wanted to do was talk to other myeloma patients, to better understand what I could expect, but there was no (myeloma) support group to turn to.” So, in the short term, he relied on information from an international myeloma organization. He underwent a stem cell transplant and went for hydrotherapy and was back at work after two months. It was while he was attending an international myeloma conference in Australia that he met with the experts who would inspire him to set up a resource organization in Canada. He first established a local support group in November 2002, where he met Lemieux. That meeting resulted in the launch of Myeloma Canada. Del Col described Myeloma Canada as “patient based,” which means regular patient surveys help guide the organization’s effort. What information is lacking? How can patients be better served? Del Col is proud that the work he and others are doing is helping with patient care. But he harbours a special pride for the research entity he and Reece created. “It started with a simple roundtable discussing the latest in research and has grown to become a two-day international event,” Del Col said. For more information, visit myelomacanada.ca.