Multiple myeloma is an unusual type of cancer. With some cancers, the end comes quickly. Others are easily cured. Multiple myeloma patients are stuck in the middle. Multiple myeloma is the ultimate shade of gray. Multiple myeloma doesn't knock you out—it wears you down!

My wife, Pattie, was forced to endure major surgery following her cervical and uterine cancer diagnosis at the young age of 34. Six years later, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. That meant another surgery and six grueling months of chemotherapy.

But there was always a light at the end of the tunnel—a light which still shines bright today. Seven years after her second round of treatment, Pattie remains cancer free. The doctors say she has a better chance of living without cancer now than an average woman her age. (I'm so proud of her!)

Contrast that with our lives as multiple myeloma patients. We may have good days, or months or years. But deep down we know that—unless we are exceptionally lucky—the myeloma will come back. Maybe today. Maybe tomorrow. If it does, new medicationss may help beat it back—and then the cycle repeats itself.

How can we stay positive while faced with the almost certain return of our cancer? Here are a few tips that help me make the most of my day (notice I didn’t write “make it through my day”):

• Time is precious—especially for us! Don't sit back, waiting for something bad to happen. Do something positive instead! Help friends and family. Do something special for your caregiver. Take a class. Write a book. Grow a garden. Keep living!
• In order to keep living, we must keep moving. I try and walk at least once each day. Get out and remember how lucky you are to be alive. Walk, swim, or ride a bike. Do whatever you can to stay active.
• Find purpose in your life. Volunteer at your place of worship. Help out at a senior center. Make yourself indispensable! I often kid that “I'm too busy to die!” It's true! What about all of those projects around the house. I have articles and a second book to write. I have a dog, cats, and a wife that just can't live without me! Make a list of all the important things you need to do. Add to it everyday. Start a second list of all the people you know that would be worse off if you were gone. Work to add people's names to that list everyday as well.
• Adversity helps us grow and makes us better human beings. This is true, too! There is nothing wrong with being angry at your cancer. Get it out! Feel sorry for yourself—but only for a while. Feel better? Good! Now try and view your cancer as an opportunity. Think of every completed trip to the doctor, or each round of chemotherapy, as a victory. You didn't give up! Look back at all you have accomplished and endured. These victories are an important part of who you are—a winner!
• At the same time you are concentrating on all of those small, daily achievements and victories, don't forget to reflect on the future. Not the dark, depressing “I have cancer” part. I don't know if you have been paying attention, but there are new anti-multiple myeloma drugs and clinical trials popping up all around us—and they are working! Stay alive today, then tomorrow. Why? Every myeloma patient shares the fantasy that someday there will be a cure. Know what? That isn't crazy, wishful thinking! The more I learn about multiple myeloma and new therapy options to treat it, the more I believe that a cure—or at least the next wonder drug which will add years to our lives—is just around the corner.
• I don't have room here to even begin exploring the value of believing in a higher power. Pray, meditate, and reflect. Find your purpose.

Use the adversity of having cancer to help you learn more about yourself. Do that and the world will be a better place. And isn't that the most any of us can hope for?

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat