I have been living with multiple myeloma for almost six years now, and I am grateful that, after a period of initial treatment,  I have had the oppor­tun­ity to get back to a nearly normal life again.

You might think that, after such a long time, I needn’t worry about the future, or become stressed about the disease sometimes, but that is not always the case.

My relapse last autumn and subsequent return to treatment on the stron­gest dosage of Revlimid ^[1] (lenalidomide) plus weekly dexa­meth­a­sone ^[2] (Deca­dron) was a reminder that I am not immortal.

However, I have activities that I turn to for relaxation if I get worried about myeloma – or anything else in my life.

As I mentioned in my last column ^[3], I like to exercise, and do some daily. Especially when our family dog is with me and I can listen to music through my cell phone, walking is really relaxing for me.

Music has been an important stress buster throughout my life. Since my myeloma diagnosis, I can find more meaning in the nuances of both sad ballads and happy songs. Music is an emotional outlet for me that way.

Earlier in my life, I played bagpipes, an instrument I learned to play in my childhood, regularly with a pipe band. But I had to give up playing with the band in parades after having back injuries due to myeloma. For­tu­nately, I had switched over more to singing and had already been a member of a multi­cul­tural choir for years prior to my myeloma diagnosis. So the disease didn’t force me to give up performing music in a group.

Another way I can lose myself in the moment is to work on textile crafts – a pastime I share with my mother and stepmother. The nice thing about this hobby is that it is so versatile. I can do something as un­com­pli­cated as taking a small knitting project with me while waiting for medical appointments, or work at home on a bigger, more complicated piece that takes a lot of concentration. I completed some of the bigger, more com­pli­cated pieces when I was at home recovering from treatment.

My husband Dilip and I both enjoy gardening, both inside and outside the house. There is something about the seasons passing by that I find relaxing. Every spring is a new awakening of nature, and I am thrilled to still be here to observe that. Right after my stem cell transplant, in 2010, I couldn’t work with my houseplants for fear of getting a fungal infection. I have found that now I enjoy repotting and trimming and fertilizing plants, when before I might have found that to be more of a chore.

On weekends, it’s nice to get together with family and friends for a meal or some sort of outing. It reminds me how far I have come since my diagnosis, when I stayed home a lot and was not able to be with as many people as I would have liked. When we are tired, Dilip and I may just stay home and watch a movie on TV. Weekends are also a good time to get more outdoor exercise or go to the fitness club.

My mother, my two sisters, and I have also been playing online scrabble together nonstop since 2006. I con­tinued to play during my induction therapy and stem cell transplant because it was a nice way to stay in touch and to immerse myself into the world of words. I continue to look forward to my daily turn, which hope­fully has improved my vocabulary, too.

Reading a good book also helps me get my thoughts off my worries. Through my myeloma diagnosis, I have rediscovered how much I enjoy reading up on medical-related topics and biology. As a result – and following up on a tip from a fellow Beacon reader – I started auditing some classes in biology last spring. Because I was a microbiology major back in my university days, somehow reading up on these topics turns back the clock for me to my time as a student.

So, all in all, I feel that I have enough relaxing activities to turn to when stress threatens to get the better of me. I don’t want to be worried unnecessarily and miss out on enjoying my life as it continues to unfold. I can’t be very effective, or helpful to others, if I get overwhelmed with worries, and I live a full life in the present day.

What are some of the activities that you turn to for relaxation?

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The quotation for this month is from Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519), the Italian polymath, who said: “Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work, your judgment will be surer.”