BY GARY PETERSEN The data is in: 25% of patients are diagnosed 306 days after first symptoms, and the average life expectancy of an untreated myeloma patient is 9 months or 279 days. According to the UK's National Institute of Health, 20% of newly diagnosed patients die in the first 2 months.  There is hope. Get IMMEDIATE treatment from a multiple myeloma specialist. The USA SEER statistics show a 25% average first year death rate, whereas the listed myeloma specialists have a 1 and 2 year death rates of  0-12%.  You are two times more likely to live longer if treated by a myeloma specialist. I would like to think that we all would receive a timely diagnosis and have adequate time to evaluate our situation, but if you are diagnosed with stage 3 myeloma, this single step can make a big difference in outcomes. One day the general practitioners of the world will become more skilled at multiple myeloma diagnosis, but with only 3% of the general population knowing anything about multiple myeloma, there is more to do to get the word out. What can you do to help spread the word and promote awareness? If you, family or friends are over the age of 60, you can request regular blood tests to help find anemia, high calcium and elevated proteins in the blood. And as always, please share this post on Facebook or Twitter. To find a qualified myeloma specialist, visit www.myelomasurvival.com and review their survival statistics. Additionally you can find myeloma specialists on the new Myeloma Crowd Online Myeloma Specialist Directory. Good luck and may God Bless your Cancer Journey.   Find more information about multiple myeloma survival rates and treatments here and you can follow me on twitter at: https://twitter.com/grpetersen1