Sole Sisters
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

RUNNING BUDDIES- Jana Cannon, center, of Camarillo puts her arm around longtime friend and Thousand Oaks resident Jodi Manby, with glasses, as they meet with members of their running team, Miles for Myeloma Girls. The 27-member team plans to run in the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon on May 10. The team wants to raise $25,000 or more for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Cannon and Manby each have a parent suffering from the rare but fatal blood cancer.

Jana Cannon and Jodi Manby share a number of common bonds.

Cannon and Manby grew up in Agoura Hills, but they didn't meet until they attended the same college 14 years ago. Both became elementary school teachers- Cannon, 37, settling in Camarillo and Manby, 33, in Thousand Oaks.

The longtime friends also share a more recent, life-altering bond that has brought them even closer together- they each have a parent who has been diagnosed with the same rare blood cancer known as multiple myeloma.

In 2002, Cannon's mother, Linda Robertson, learned she had the disease. Robertson, a former elementary and middle school teacher in Camarillo, had been retired for six years when doctors gave her the news: She had three to five years to live.

"It was devastating," Cannon said. "It was just a horrible time."

Manby's father, Bill, was diagnosed with the cancer last November.

No cure exists for multiple myeloma, which is expected to kill about 11,000 Americans this year, according to the American Cancer Society. The organization predicts doctors in the U.S. will diagnose 20,000 new cases in 2008.

Robertson has beaten the odds so far because new drugs have been developed since her diagnosis, Cannon said. The cancer, which weakens bones, affects the immune system and causes kidney problems, went dormant in her body for three years following a stem cell transplant in 2003, although abnormal blood cells continued to reproduce.

"This disease always does that because it's not curable," said Robertson, 66, who now lives in Central California. "You can get rid of it for a little while."

Doctors recently performed the transplant procedure on Bill Manby.

"I think he's doing really well all things considered," Jodi Manby said.

Bill Manby and his wife, Chaz, had been longtime Agoura Hills residents before settling in Arizona after he retired from Nestle's several years ago. Chaz Manby was the original owner of Country Attic in Agoura's Whizin's shopping center.

Multiple myeloma grows resistant to existing medication, so continual research is needed to produce a steady supply of new drugs to keep the cancer at bay, Cannon said.

Tests on Robertson show the cancer is staging a comeback.

"If a new drug doesn't come out my mom won't make it," Cannon said. "That's the sad, grim fact."

To help fund research to develop new drug treatments, Cannon and Manby asked other friends to join them in a benefit run. Twenty-five women said yes. The team, known as Miles for Myeloma Girls, plans to run in the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon on May 10.

The money will support the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, a leading funder of multiple myeloma research.

The foundation has helped bring four new treatments to market in four years, though it usually takes a decade for just one treatment to become approved, the organization said.

Jodi Manby said the helplessness she feels as she watches her father battle the disease spurred her to sign up for the 13.1-mile run.

"When you go through something like that . . . it's hard to feel like you make a difference," Manby said. Raising money for drug research "has made me feel I can take control of a situation that's a little bit out of control."

T e a m Miles for Myeloma Girls- composed of women from Camarillo, Simi Valley and other parts of Southern California- has raised $23,000 so far. They're closing in on their goal of $25,000 and may set the bar a bit higher before the run.

"I just want to raise as much as I can because research is the only way they're going to find a cure," Cannon said. "Had this research not been going on, my mom would be dead. The research is working."

Donations to the team can be made by mailing a check to MMRF, 43 Calle Escalon, Camarillo, CA 93010, or online at www.active.com/donate/sbhalf marathon08/curemyeloma.

For more information on multiple myeloma, visit the foundation's website at www .multiplemyeloma.org.

"I want people to be aware that there are cancers out there and for the price of a manicure they can make a difference," Cannon said. "Every penny adds up."

In a Nutshell

Multiple myeloma symptoms include:

•Bone pain, usually in the back.

•Broken bones, usually in the spine

•Feeling weak and very tired

•Feeling very thirsty

•Frequent infections and fevers

•Weight loss •Nausea or constipation

•Frequent urination

Although other health problems could be responsible for these symptoms, anyone experiencing them should talk to their doctor immediately.

Taken from the National Cancer Institute