ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A cancer diagnosis can change the lives of so many. It certainly did for Valerie Aarne.

“Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells in the bone marrow, and eventually the plasma cells will clone themselves, start to build lesions, and eat away at the bone, and the bones become very brittle. And I have some old fractures, old rib fractures, compression fractures. And my spine. That's just part of the journey,” she explained. “Multiple myeloma is often not caught until it’s advanced. And the symptoms are often fatigue, back pain, or maybe a broken bone.”

What You Need To Know

  • Exogen is an at-home bone growth stimulator that uses ultrasound technology to reawaken the cells and encourage returned healing

  • Valerie Aarne underwent years of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2014

  • She fractured both of her feet and saw little signs of healing, so her doctors prescribed her Exogen, which she's been using for more than 200 days

  • According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, more than 75,000 bone growth stimulators are used each year

  • The CDC expects that number to grow as the population continues to age

She was diagnosed back in 2014 while she was taking care of both cancer-ridden parents. Her diagnosis lead to an earlier-than-expected retirement, after following in her family's footsteps in being a nurse for roughly 43 years. The career turned into academic writing, which was a hobby that was there for her through it all.

“No, you don't understand. The more stressful my week is, the more I love to write, the more I love to learn and share and understand,” Aarne said.

She went through years of chemo, and when things started looking up, she took a fall leaving her with two fractured feet.

“Surgery is usually what they do first. But I was having so many complications from the cancer treatments with major organs that I wanted to put all my energy and healing power into those healing those parts of myself that I just didn't want to enter a surgery kind of treatment,” Aarne explained. “I didn’t really know how long we could allow this to go on, but every month we were hopeful. And then he decided to start a bone stimulator, which I had never heard of before.”

Exogen is a bone regrowth stimulator that allows patients to receive ultrasound radiation from the comfort of their own home for 20 minutes a day.

“It makes the cells active, and they stimulate bone growth. Because now the active cells start to do their job,” she said.

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, more than 75,000 bone growth stimulators are used each year. The CDC expects that number to grow as the population continues to age.

“It is now this little machine that patients can do at home for 20 minutes a day, which, what a difference. If I had to go to the doctor's office for hours every day, that is something like, how can you be successful? I have a far better chance of being successful with this than if I had had to do one of the original ones,” Aarne smiled. “We ought to have t-shirts: 'don’t lose hope, [Exogen] is on the way.' "

She’s been using Exogen for more than 200 consistent days.

“This bone stimulator idea has just helped my bone begin to heal. [It] gave me hope when I was worried I wouldn't ever have a foot healed. Really, a non-healing foot was the least of my worries, but it is kind of nice to not have a broken foot,” she laughed and said.