Next Monday, October 14, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day here in Canada.

It is a time of family and friends getting together, sharing a meal, and en­joying each others’ company. It’s also a natural time to look back on the past year and to give thanks to the blessings we received throughout the year. And there is always much to give thanks for at harvest time.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it focuses on the positives in our lives. I feel truly blessed and thankful to have a loving family and many friends who care about me. My cup runneth over!

This is my fifth Thanksgiving since my diagnosis in 2009, and each one has been better than the last. I can say that because the first year after my diagnosis was the worst. I had a lot of pain from bone fractures, and I underwent induction chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant within seven months. By the second Thanks­giving, I was receiving maintenance therapy. Since then I have not re­ceived any treatment for my myeloma, and my overall health has improved over the years. I am much strong­er now, and I am feeling very well.

So from a health point of view, what will we be celebrating in our family this year?

We are grateful for an excellent health care system that is available for any of us when we need medical help. Throughout our lives, we have turned to this system for help with a myriad of health issues. My treat­ment for multiple myeloma is just one of the many instances of receiving help from the system.

We are also grateful for the modern drugs and treatments that have helped to turn myeloma into a more chronic condition. Even if one is not in a complete remission, one can now hope to thrive with the help of any of a number of drugs.

We are grateful for more sophisticated monitoring techniques for multiple myeloma. Detection of smaller and smaller amounts of cancer cells can help with decision making about treatments.

On a family level, I am grateful for the education system that has trained two doctors and a nurse in my im­mediate family: Both my husband and my younger daughter are doctors, and my older daughter is a reg­is­tered nurse. All three work in clinics and hospitals here in Calgary. They have helped me out every day through­out my journey with multiple myeloma with their insights based on their medical training and ex­peri­ence. The conversation around our Thanksgiving dinner table will probably revolve around medicine, as usual.

From the viewpoint of my myeloma, we give thanks for all of the medical care that has brought me to this point in my life. When I look back, I know I received the care that helped me immensely in my recovery to date. Not only did I receive the latest treatments available here, but I also re­ceived – and continue to re­ceive – expert and compassionate care from the medical staff at our cancer center. No matter what lies ahead, I have already had this precious time to spend with my family and friends and to enjoy life.

I also give thanks to the fact that I am well enough again to take on a ‘part-time volunteer job’ with the South­ern Alberta Myeloma Patient Society. It has allowed me to make new friends with other patients and care­givers through our common interest in myeloma.

In addition, this job has given me the opportunity to advocate for access to multiple myeloma drugs in Canada. This topic is near and dear to my heart, because not all of the new myeloma drugs are available in Canada yet. Through my work, I hope to help in some small way to get drug access here.

We will be sitting down to a lovely feast with many friends and family members at our home on Monday. It will be a wonderful weekend, and it will be hard for me not to over­in­dulge on turkey, salads, stuffing, and pump­kin pie.

Best wishes to all readers, and may you enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend too, whether it is in October or November. If you happen to live in a country with no specific date for a Thanksgiving holiday, just celebrate along with us!

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The quotation for this month is a Native American saying: "Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way."