Last week I promised to keep everyone updated as I prepared to undergo my first autologous stem cell transplant.

Despite a few close calls—like a final insurance approval that didn’t arrive until 5:01 p.m. the day before I was scheduled to be admitted—I am sitting here as a stem cell transplant patient in Moffitt Cancer Center’s brand new Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) unit.  And I’m happy to say that I’m alive and doing well.

On Tuesday night, I received my …

I completed my grueling, pre-stem cell transplant testing this week.

I also learned I am right on schedule to undergo my autologous stem cell transplant (using my own stem cells) beginning Monday.

The plan is for me to stay on the Moffitt Cancer Center Transplant Unit for one or two weeks. At that point, I would be moved to outpatient housing nearby for an additional two or three weeks, as I start my long road to recovery.

I hope …

Isn’t it amazing what a multiple myeloma patient can learn to endure?  I’m so much tougher than I was four years ago when I started my myeloma journey.

But despite all of the drugs, pokes, sticks, and tests I have been forced to endure, one thing I had yet to do was learn to give myself an injection—and the thought had always petrified me!

Let me back up a bit.

I have been taking Revlimid (lenalidomide) orally for over …

While I was in Chicago for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting this past weekend, I noticed a renewed emphasis by clinicians and researchers to aggressively move forward with individual, targeted cancer therapies.

Attempts to use patient-specific antibodies as a way to deliver innovative anti-cancer therapies grabbed the headlines.

But there is a far simpler way to use patient-specific information. Tailoring dosing to each individual can get the optimum results with minimal side effects, using anti-cancer drugs and …

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Memorial Day holiday weekend!

I was fortunate to be able to spend some rare, quality time with my wife and caregiver, Pattie.

We shopped a bit, saw a movie, and shared a relaxed meal at a restaurant near our home.

While we dined, Pattie and I began to discuss my upcoming stem cell transplant, which was recently re-scheduled to begin around July first.

It was then Pattie reminded me about an unfortunate summer holiday …

Many multiple myeloma patients and caregivers live in a new, Internet-centered world.

As recently as five or six years ago, someone with multiple myeloma would have heard about a new anti-myeloma therapy from their oncologist—probably when the new drug was being prescribed for the first time—or possibly while deciding whether or not to participate in a clinical trial.

Man, have times changed!  Not only are there as many as 90 different myeloma-related drugs or drug combinations being researched now, but …

I have written about the challenges and frustrations of “watchful waiting” here in the past.

I believe this is one of the most challenging aspects of living with multiple myeloma—sometimes all we can do is watch and wait for our myeloma to return.

But something exciting happened to me today, which has changed my whole attitude about this.  I would like to share the details with you now.

During a follow-up appointment with my myeloma specialist, Dr. Melissa Alsina …