Bruce Springsteen & Wife Patti Scialfa, 72, Who is Managing Life With Multiple Myeloma: I ‘Always Tried Not To Be a Wife On Stage,’

She then pointed out that Springsteen has a motto where he is in performance mode on stage, but as soon as he takes a step off the stage, he returns to normalcy.

“It’s over baby,” Springsteen joked when Scialfa shared what happens when he’s done with a show.

Springsteen, who has been married to Scialfa since June 8, 1991, added, “I’m only a boss for three hours … then I surrender the title. Happily.”

However, Scialfa later admitted she never thinks of her husband as her “boss.”

For a full guide of resources, please check out SurvivorNet’s multiple myeloma guide HERE.

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After Stern addressed how their children seem “very well adjusted,” Scialfa said, “When you walk into our home, especially when the kids were growing up, you wouldn’t know what anybody did for a living.

“There was nothing in the house that indicated there was somebody famous in the house, or this is an overwhelming situation. There are no pictures related to the work or anything.”

More On Multiple Myeloma: Maintenance Treatment

Referring to their love life and continued romance, Scialfa insisted she and her husband never “compete” with each other, and instead strive to work together when it comes to creating music.

Sharing a sweet story about when she was putting together her “Rumble Doll record,” she told Stern, “We were living in L.A. We had just woken up and were talking about, you know, working, and he goes, ‘You know what you need on your record? You need one song where you really brag about yourself. Like, really just throw it out there and be really sexy and brag.'”

She added, “It’s not quite my thing, right? So I said, ‘No, no, no, no. I’m so not doing that, Bruce.’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, yeah, you gotta do it.’

“And he started singing ‘Red Headed Woman.'”

Looking at her husband, she continued, “You literally got out of bed, picked up the guitar, and while I’m sitting in bed, you wrote ‘Red Headed Woman’ at that moment.”

This sweet interview resurfaced on Instagram this week as a fan decided to share it and tag Scialfa’s Instagram account. It comes as March 31 marks 34 years since Springsteen released his albums “Human Touch & Lucky Town” in 1992.

To commemorate the milestone, E Street Nation’s fan page on Instagram, shared throwback photos of Springsteen, sharing the news.

“Human Touch, Roll of the Dice, Man’s Job, I Wish I Were Blind, Better Days, Local Hero, If I Should Fall Behind, Leap of Faith, Living Proof, My Beautiful Reward are the 10 best songs from these 2 albums,” the fan page writes.

“The album was supported by the 1992–1993 World Tour, Bruce Springsteen’s first tour without the E Street Band and Roy Bittan, the only former member to join, and Patti Scialfa performed duets on several songs.”

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Understanding Patti Scialfa’s Cancer Journey

Patti Scialfa shared her multiple myeloma diagnosis in the Springsteen documentary titled “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band,” which was released in October 2024.

Fans learned of her health battle in the documentary, where she’s seen addressing her health struggle, and according to People, she said in the documentary, “I’ve been performing with this band for 40 years. With those first performances, it felt so good to be back onstage.”

“Touring has become a challenge for me. In 2018, well, Bruce and I were doing a play on Broadway. I was diagnosed with early-stage multiple myeloma.”

She explained further, “This affects my immune system, so I have to be careful what I choose to do and where I choose to go. Every once in a while, I come to a show or two, and I can sing a few songs on stage, and that’s been a treat.

“That’s the new normal for me right now, and I’m OK with that.”

Explaining Maintenance Therapy

Understanding Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma is a rare and incurable type of blood cancer. When you have this cancer, white blood cells called plasma cells (the cells that make antibodies to fight infections) in your bone marrow grow out of proportion to healthy cells. Those abnormal cells leave less room for the healthy blood cells your body needs to fight infections. They can also spread to other parts of your body and cause problems with organs like your kidneys.

Patient Education is Key — Head of Hematology at Johnson & Johnson On Getting Multiple Myeloma Patients Access to Good Information & Care
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Sometimes, doctors find multiple myeloma while doing a blood test to look for another condition or when trying to find out what’s causing a patient’s unexplained symptoms.

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Doctors use blood and urine tests and imaging tests, such as X-rays or MRIs, to help diagnose multiple myeloma and to guide treatment options. Ultimately, a bone marrow biopsy will confirm the diagnosis.

RELATED: Hematologist and SurvivorNet advisor, Dr. Nina Shah, helps you understand this rare cancer

Multiple myeloma symptoms can range from tiredness, nausea, and constipation. Other symptoms may include:

• Weakness, dizziness, and shortness of breath, which are signs of a low red blood cell count, are called anemia.
• Bone pain, which could be a sign of a fracture.
• Urinating too much or too little, muscle cramps, nausea, and vomiting are symptoms of kidney failure.
• Confusion is caused by too much calcium in the blood.
• Frequent infections because you have too few white blood cells to fight them.

It’s important to know that these symptoms could be attributed to other conditions. If you experience any of these symptoms or are concerned about any changes to your body, you should address them promptly with your doctor.

Hematologist-oncologist Dr. Adam Cohen lays out your options during the maintenance phase of treatment

Meanwhile, multiple myeloma does cause bone conditions. According to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, 85% of multiple myeloma patients have some kind of bone damage or loss.

“The most commonly affected areas are the spine, pelvis, and rib cage,” the Foundation explains.

The reason for this bone loss or damage is that multiple myeloma disrupts the bone remodeling process. The cancerous myeloma cells keep the cells in the bone responsible for removing old bone and rebuilding new bone from working properly.

The disease can also weaken the bone, resulting in fractures. And it can cause thinning of the bones, leading to osteoporosis [meaning the bones are more porous and more likely to fracture].

And “in advanced multiple myeloma, a patient may lose inches from his or her height due to compressed vertebrae over the course of their illness.”

So bone conditions can be a symptom of multiple myeloma.

RELATED: Why Do Some People With Cancer Experience Back or Bone Pain?

Getting a Diagnosis

Sometimes doctors find multiple myeloma while doing a blood test to look for another condition, or when trying to find out what’s causing a patient’s unexplained symptoms.

According to SurvivorNet’s experts, blood tests are also the way your doctor might learn that you have smoldering multiple myeloma or MGUS, because these conditions don’t usually cause symptoms. Smoldering multiple myeloma and MGUS aren’t cancer, but they can sometimes turn into cancer.

The odds that either condition will become cancer are very small, but to be safe, your doctor will probably check you more closely with blood and urine tests, and sometimes a bone marrow biopsy–removing and testing a small sample of the spongy material inside your bones. These tests can help monitor you for changes that signal you’ve switched over to multiple myeloma, and that you need to start treatment for this cancer. You may also need a bone marrow biopsy to help your doctor make the initial diagnosis.

Doctors use blood and urine tests and imaging tests, such as X-ray or MRI, to help diagnose multiple myeloma and to guide treatment options. Ultimately, a bone marrow biopsy will confirm the diagnosis.

Monitoring your bone strength and health over time will help your doctors understand how, or if, your disease is progressing.

Treatment Options For Multiple Myeloma

Not everyone with multiple myeloma needs treatment right away. If you have smoldering multiple myeloma, your doctor might simply monitor you regularly to see if your disease progresses.

If you develop symptoms or your doctor thinks you need treatment, there are many options.  Which of these treatments you receive, and how they are sequenced, depend on several factors, and on whether your treatment team thinks you are a good candidate for a bone marrow transplant.

Bone Marrow (Stem Cell) Transplant

This is also known as a stem cell transplant. It is a procedure to replace diseased bone marrow with healthy bone marrow without myeloma cells. Based on multiple factors, your doctor may decide that a stem cell transplant is best for you. The transplant process can be involved and requires multiple steps. Be sure to discuss this with your treating team to understand what is involved and what options are available.

If you’re not a good candidate for chemotherapy, your treatment options include targeted therapies, biologics, and steroids.

Targeted Therapy

Targeted therapy is now available for patients with multiple myeloma, and targets abnormalities in myeloma cells that allow the cancer to survive. Examples of targeted agents your doctor may use include bortezomib (Velcade), carfilzomib (Kyprolis), and ixazomib (Sarclisa). These drugs are either given in a pill or through an IV and cause myeloma cells to die by preventing the breakdown of certain proteins in myeloma cells. Your doctor may also use other targeted agents in the class of medications known as monoclonal antibodies.

Biologic Therapy

Biologic therapy is another class of medication your treatment team may use to treat your myeloma. These medications use your body’s immune system to help fight and kill myeloma cells. This class of medication is most often given in pill form and includes medications such as thalidomide (Thalidomid), lenalidomide (Revlimid), and pomalidomide (Pomalyst).

Chemotherapy

Sometimes your treatment team may recommend chemotherapy to treat your myeloma. Chemotherapy uses strong medicine to target cancer cells throughout your body. If your doctor recommends a bone marrow transplant, high doses of chemotherapy are used for this purpose.

Steroids

Occasionally, doctors may use corticosteroids such as dexamethasone or prednisone as part of your treatment. Steroids are different from chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and biologic therapy. They work to reduce inflammation throughout your body. Steroids are given as a pill and are also active against myeloma cells.

Radiation

Radiation uses high-dose X-rays to stop cancer cells from dividing. It is sometimes used to target myeloma in specific areas that may be causing you issues or pain. It is also used if there are tumors or deposits of myeloma cells that need to be treated, such as a plasmacytoma — a tumor made of abnormal plasma cells — of the bone.

Sometimes the cancer can return, or relapse, after treatment. If this happens, your doctor can put you on one of the treatments you’ve already tried again, try a new treatment, or recommend that you enroll in a clinical trial.

Any of these treatments can cause side effects, which may include nerve pain and fatigue. Your doctor can adjust your medication if you do have side effects. In general, you should start to feel better once your treatment starts to work.

Extending Your Lifespan With Multiple Myeloma

Then you’ll ultimately reach the maintenance phase of treatment. Now that your doctor has gotten your cancer under control, from here the goal is to keep your disease stable and to maintain your quality of life. The type of maintenance therapy you get and what prognosis you can expect will depend on whether your doctor determines that your multiple myeloma is standard risk or high risk.

One of SurvivorNet’s experts describes the maintenance process for this disease as similar to lawn care. Once you care for your lawn and it’s no longer overgrown (that’s the initial treatment), it will need some tending, but with that attention (such as low doses of maintenance drugs), it can remain healthy.

Why the many phases of multiple myeloma are like caring for your lawn, says hematologic cancer specialist, Dr. Sid Ganguly

Sometimes this disease will return, even when you’re on maintenance therapies. You’ll still have treatments available if this happens.

Though it can be daunting to choose treatments for relapsed multiple myeloma, the medical experts at SurvivorNet are here to help you make sense of them. Remember that you do have options, and that the goal, which becomes more achievable with each new treatment that’s introduced, is to preserve your quality of life and extend your lifespan.

Finding Gratitude In Support

One thing that’s critical for those fighting cancer is the feeling that they are being supported and loved during this difficult experience. Experts have told SurvivorNet that going through cancer while feeling supported can actually make people feel even more grateful for things they may have taken for granted in the past. This gratitude can be towards loved ones, special memories, or milestones they hope to achieve after treatment.

RELATED: Patients Do Better When They are Less Stressed

“The patients who do well with cancer live life with that kind of gratitude, but in terms of everything,” Dr. Zuri Murrell, director of the Cedars-Sinai Colorectal Cancer Center, previously told SurvivorNet.

“They’re grateful, not for cancer, but they’re grateful for an opportunity to know that life is finite, but they live life like ‘I love you’ to their husband, to their wife, to their kids, knowing that they appreciate it for one of the first times ever because they know it may not be forever that they get to do this.”

Dr. Zuri Murrell explains how support during cancer can make patients more grateful

Questions for Your Doctor

If you are facing a multiple myeloma diagnosis, here are some questions to help you begin the conversation with your doctor:

• What stage is my multiple myeloma?
• What are my treatment options?
• What are the possible side effects of your recommended treatment?
• Who will be part of my healthcare team, and what does each member do?
• Can you refer me to a social worker or psychologist who can help me cope with my diagnosis?

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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