Three months ago, my painful right hip was replaced.  Recovery has been swift and rewarding.  I’m able to kick in the pool again when I swim, take long walks, and not wake up in the middle of the night with my myeloma-ravaged hip joint throbbing.

But all my news on the pain front isn’t good.  Back before I was diag­nosed in 2007, my myeloma had been systematically attacking my bones for years.  My ribs, lower back, pelvis, and right femur …

In last month’s column, I wrote about how much my perspective on myeloma therapy has changed over the past six years since my diagnosis.  In a nutshell, I’m more willing to try new things and endure troubling side effects now than I was back when I was still a “rookie.”

My attitude about stem cell transplants is a perfect example of this.  I look at stem cell transplants differently now – both allogeneic transplants (using donor stem cells) and …

Side effects are a multiple myeloma survivor’s per­ma­nent companion.  Oh, they may change from month to month and treat­ment to treat­ment, but one way or an­other, you are forced to deal with them.

Doctors always insist you share any negative side effects (there are posi­tive ones?) with them or their nurse im­me­di­ately.  And early on, your on­col­o­gist may be quick to switch you from one therapy to another in order to avoid serious, de­bil­i­tat­ing side effects like severe skin rashes, …

At this time last month, I was preparing to undergo hip replacement surgery.  One month later, I’m pleased to report that the surgery was an awesome success!

I went home two days after my surgery, two days ahead of schedule.  I was walking without a cane in five days and without a limp in ten. And although I still get a bit sore after walking up a long flight of stairs or working out, the pain is far less than …

“Your myeloma is stable.”  Short, sweet music to my ears!

I’m not sure she realized it, but my myeloma specialist had just opened up a world of possibilities for me.

Two years ago, I relapsed for the first time.  After taking a year-and-a-half to finally achieve remission again, all were concerned when I relapsed after ten short weeks.  Now, after three months on Velcade (bortezomib) and dexa­metha­sone (Decadron), I waited to find out if that basic …

I just finished re-reading my column from last month on the topic of denial about death and dying.  The column generated so much discussion, I wanted to write a follow-up.

Let me start by clarifying my take on denial:

We all need to grieve or emotionally deal with our diagnosis in whatever way works best for each of us; I would never be so presumptuous as to tell someone how they should do that.

Denial can be a magnificent …

As a former drug and alcohol counselor, I was trained to identify and deal with the “elephant in the living room”  In other words, the painful reality that everyone would talk around but rarely face.  It might be a family member's alcohol or drug use, domestic violence, or incest. 

Denying a horrifying reality isn't anything new.  But I never expected multiple myeloma to make the top ten list! That is, no one ever wants to discuss dying from myeloma. …