I am writing this column 30 days after my donor stem cell transplant.

The road to this point has been far from easy.  Nor do I believe that I am anywhere near “out of the woods” as far as recovery.

However, I am feeling pretty good about where I am at right now and about my decision to go forward with the transplant.

First, a little background:

I have written about this in some of my previous posts.  Since being …

I have taken a few months off from writing my column to deal with my multiple myeloma health issues and to sort out my next steps.

Most of The Myeloma Beacon’s columnists are upbeat, positive, or even humorous.  I was feeling none of those things.  Most of the emotions I was having were too unsettled, confusing, and raw to write about.

The last few months have been a roller coaster of ups and downs.  At least for now, the dust …

Last week marked the six-year anniversary of my diagnosis of multiple myeloma.  The occasion was marked, not by a celebration, but by a trip to Boston to talk with Dr. Ken Anderson about the next step in my treatment.

The last six years have been filled with ups and downs.

As I am always reminded, myeloma is a very heterogeneous disease and behaves differently for everyone.  Some people seem to have periods of very long responses to treatment and periods …

My last column sparked some interesting discussion about the balance between treating multiple myeloma aggressively enough to be effective, while minimizing side effects and maximizing quality of life.

This balance has many facets to it.

Everything in medicine comes down to a risk-benefit question.  How much risk is there to a treatment, and what is the expected benefit?

Sounds simple enough.  The problem is that the answer is not always clear, especially for any one individual.

Multiple myeloma is a …

As an avid follower of Google alerts for multiple myeloma and a reader of all things multiple myeloma on the Internet, a recent article caught my attention.

“Novel Therapies Put Multiple Myeloma on the Ropes” read the headline from the Oncology Report Digital Network.

The article led off with the statement “A sweep of new agents are poised to deliver what could be a knockout blow to multiple myeloma."

It then quoted Dr. Jeffrey Wolf, the director of the multiple …

The cancer world is full of clichés.  We are inundated on a daily basis with expressions, such as “the long and courageous battle,” “stay positive,” “survivor,” “every day is precious,” and now of course, pink ribbons.

One of the most common cancer clichés is the idea of the “new normal.”  After a cancer diagnosis or cancer treatments, people constantly toss around the term new normal. But what does this really mean?

When I was younger, in my twenties and thirties, …

Ever since I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma five and a half years ago, hardly a day goes by when I don’t read some breathtaking headline about the promise of “personalized medicine” in the treatment of cancer.

News article after news article declares that breakthroughs in unlocking cancer's genetic code will lead to new, highly individualized, highly effective treatments.

Sounds great.  How could it not make your heart race a little faster knowing a cure is right around the corner? …