One of the universal bits of advice you’re going to get as a patient with multiple myeloma is that you need a good relationship with your doctor.

In a recent article, patient Kay Cromie of Burlington, Vermont, stressed to Myeloma Beacon writer Saniya Tabani the importance of developing a rapport with your doctor, so you can feel comfortable communicating your concerns, asking questions, and discussing treatment options with your doctor.

When I spoke a few weeks ago with Dr. …

Back in 2006, when I was initially diagnosed with myeloma, I learned of the interest among researchers in investigating maintenance therapies, particularly a Revlimid (lenalidomide)/dexamethasone (Decadron) combination.

This struck me at the time as an encouraging and exciting development, particularly for anyone who had paid attention to how a similar line of research and the introduction of protease inhibitors and combination therapies have changed the lives of many persons living with HIV/AIDS over the past 15 years. …

One of the first things you learn with a multiple myeloma diagnosis is that your life as you knew it is irrevocably changed.

That’s true, I suppose, with any cancer, but it’s especially so for a disease that falls into that vague “not curable but treatable” category.

I see that phrase constantly these days in newspaper and web articles about myeloma, and I find some pretty dark humor in it. It makes it sound as if myeloma is just something …

By way of introduction, I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma on May 5, 2006. That puts me right smack at the halfway point of what one of my doctors said back then. I recall his words well. “I think I can give you a good seven to eight years,” he said.

But, who’s counting.

I will be writing a monthly column for The Myeloma Beacon about my experiences since my diagnosis with myeloma.

You can look for my future columns …