Laugh for Life

Each year, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) hosts its Laugh for Life event, which aims to educate, empower and inspire individuals to raise awareness and funds for multiple myeloma research.

Ahead of its event, CURE spoke with Tina Rettig, a caregiver for her husband who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2010. Tina serves as a co-chair for the event, which will be held on May 6, to help to fund groundbreaking research initiatives like the MMRF’s most recent Direct to Patient Registry, a cornerstone of its CureCloud.

“One of the big takeaways from (Laugh for Life) is the information that we put out there…(It raises) money, and money leads to research, and research leads to testing new treatments that can be approved,” Rettig said. “And there's no one treatment that fits everybody. So it's important that we have different levels of treatment, and that you can (live with) this disease.”

In addition, we spoke with Andrew Marcelle, and his father, Peter, who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2016. Marcell will be receiving the “Spirit of Hope” award at this year’s event for his work in fundraising for the MMRF.

“It's such a big organization and there's so many people involved with it…(receiving this award) is very humbling and I'm excited for the event,” Marcelle said.

For more information, visit themmrf.org/laugh.