The days are getting much shorter here in the Northern Hemisphere, and we are approaching another solstice. This is a time of cheerful lights, caroling songs, and celebrating with family and friends.

It is also the time for spiritual reflection on the end of one year and the birth of a new one.

As part of this reflection, I would like to share some of my ‘grown up’ wishes for the myeloma community.

At the very top of my holiday wish list is a cure for myeloma. Although better treatments and ever improving medical care have led to improve­ments in survival times and quality of life for patients, too many people are still lost to this disease.

I therefore sincerely hope that important research work continues until a cure for myeloma is found; if not a cure just yet, then at least a way of staying in a ‘chronic’ or ‘stable’ and manageable condition.

Another wish I have is that myeloma be diagnosed earlier. Higher awareness amongst patients and their health care providers of the signs and symptoms of myeloma will lead to less suffering by avoiding the worst effects of the disease for us patients. It could also make the treatments more effective and thus lead to better outcomes for us..

I also hope that things will become easier for health care professionals. I am sure it is not easy to have to deliver heartbreaking news to very sick people and their caregivers. As treatments improve, and patients achieve better outcomes, this will also ease the their jobs.

My ‘grown up’ wish list also includes the wish that we use our current knowledge about carcinogens in our workplace, home, and outdoor environments to lower cancer rates and to protect future generations. Applaudable efforts are already being made in that regard. Think of improvements such as a continuing decrease in the rates of lung cancer due to stricter laws on smoking in buildings, airplanes, and public transportation. The widespread use of Agent Orange half a century ago was another example; it’s a dioxin that was not known at the time to be carcinogenic, but has been implicated in causing myeloma. Wouldn’t it be nice if the rates of myeloma could be decreased by avoiding carcinogens?

Another item on my list is that we use our knowledge about nutrition and exercise to further prevent many cancers, including myeloma, and to improve our quality of life. Exercise and eating a healthy diet have been associated with so many health benefits, and I hope we all consider following the current guidelines.

For me and my fellow Canadians, I wish that the drug approval process for well-tested drugs that are already approved elsewhere will be changed so that more of the newer myeloma drugs will be available for patients here sooner. After all, the more “chocolates in the treatment box,” the greater the capacity for our doctors to offer effective treatments outside of the realm of clinical trials and ‘special access’ programs.

I also hope and wish that our universal health care system continues to offer good care and is adequately funded by our government, which really comes down to the taxpayers taking an interest in that issue.

And last but not least, I wish that all of us myeloma patients may experience successful treatment and improved health next year, no matter where we live, or at what stage our cancers were diagnosed at!

Do you have any wishes you would want to add to this list?

Sending all best wishes your way for the holiday season. May you and yours have a Happy New Year, too!

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The quotation for this month is an excerpt from the song "My Grownup Christmas Wish," lyrics and music by David Foster and Linda Thompson-Jenner: "As children we believed the grandest sight to see, was something lovely wrapped beneath our tree. Well, heaven surely knows that packages and bows can never heal a hurting human soul.”