Rich Zimmerman

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement.   In April of 2016 Rich was  experiencing back pain.   After results from his annual physical exam and blood work in August,  he  was diagnosed with  Multiple Myeloma.  This  is a cancer that forms in a type of white blood cells called a plasma cell.  Plasma cells help you fight infections by making antibodies that recognize and attack germs.  Multiple Myeloma causes cancer cells to accumulate in the bone marrow, where they crowd out healthy blood cells.  Rather than procure helpful antibodies, the cancer cells produce abnormal proteins that can cause kidney problems.  Since then our main concern was getting this under control in preparation for a stem cell transplant.  Rich was considered in remission by April of 2017 and we are in the process of preparing for this procedure which will help to keep him in remission.  There is no cure for this cancer, but we pray that it is manageable and research is continuing to discover new drugs and treatments.  I just finished reading Tom Brokaw's book "A Lucky Life Interrupted".  He was diagnosed in August of 2013 and it was  very helpful to me.  Even famous people experience confusion and fear in dealing with this disease!