FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. — Recently, we've heard a lot about the strand of cancer known as Multiple Myeloma. It's a form of blood cancer that starts in the plasma cells and spreads throughout the body.
Just two weeks ago, former Secretary of State, Colin Powell died from COVID-19 complications, however, his doctors said his Myeloma raised his risk of dying from the virus.
We spoke with Gerard Blue and his wife Stacy, about what the last three years have been like for their family.
Gerard told us that he was experiencing severe back pain before his diagnosis and thought nothing was wrong beyond that.
"I said at least we found out what it was. And so let's go from here. Let's see what can be done. If anything can be done. And we'll face it head-on."
Once Blue was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, he quickly learned something about a family member that he didn't know.
"Come to find out one of my older he also had Multiple Myeloma. We knew he had cancer, but I didn't personally know the type of cancer that he had. And he passed away."
Dr. David Hurd is an oncologist at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. He and his team are handling Blue's case.
Dr. Hurd told us that according to national cancer research, African-Americans are two to three more times likely to receive this diagnosis.
"We don't know what causes Multiple Myeloma in the first place, the things we first think about associated with it is getting older."
This has been a three-year battle for the Blue family but recently they've got some good news after Gerard was put on a new regiment this spring.
"And that made a huge difference. I just had my most recent biopsy and it came back. The numbers are fantastic and it looks like it's in remission right now."