We just celebrated Thanksgiving this month here in Canada. It’s an op­por­tun­ity for families and friends to gather together, have a feast of their choice, and pause to reflect on their blessings in life.

This year, I felt very positive, and I was grateful for so many things in my life.

I felt very different in the autumn of 2009 when I recently had been diag­nosed with multiple myeloma. I was depressed and in a mild state of panic. It seemed a tall order at the time just to function somewhat normally, even if at a slower pace, making allowances for chemo brain and issues relat­ing to injuries and side effects of the drugs I was taking.

One doctor told me that multiple myeloma could be a chronic disease, but it was difficult for me to believe. My family and friends rallied around and tried to cheer me up.

Over time, though, I realized that I would rather be a positive person than negative. I also realized that I could not be an effective family member, or get my work done, if I had a lot of negative thoughts. My family life and work mean the world to me.

My panic subsided as I started to study and learn more about multiple myeloma. I clung to every fact that might indicate a longer prognosis. That helped to keep me in a positive frame of mind.

I also found that exercising put me in a more positive state of mind (probably due to the endorphins that exercise releases). I do a lot of walking, and I vary it around to keep it interesting. I walk with family and friends, with my grandpuppy, or with the grandchildren to a playground. I even walk to a pancake house to have breakfast with my 91-year-old father. If I walk by myself, I listen to music, which also lifts my spirits.

I think that being older now may give me some advantages. I have a lot of really good memories to look back on, and they help me to stay positive. I only have had eight years of worrying about myeloma, after all. That corresponds to 12 percent of my life to date. And even in the eight years I've had myeloma, only half has been spent receive treat­ment for the disease. I was taken off of myeloma treat­ments in order to get through my breast cancer treat­ments in September of 2016, and I haven’t needed to go back on treat­ments yet. Also, after the first year and a half of myeloma treat­ment, I enjoyed 3 1/2 years of not being on treat­ment, until I relapsed.

I also have to admit that it’s a lot easier for me to be positive right now when I am not taking any medi­ca­tions, such as dexamethasone (Decadron), that could alter my mood. When I took dex, I frequently exper­i­enced moodiness, and that was a problem not only for me, but for people around me too.

I also have learned that, when I am taking dex, I need to ensure that I get enough sleep. So I did take a sleeping pill of sorts, called trazadone (Desyrel). Trazadone is a nonaddictive antidepressant that causes sleepiness. I’m sure it helped keep my spirits up while I was on treat­ment.

In addition, I’m now pursuing activities that I do ‘for myself’, which include singing in a choir and having fiber arts hobbies, to help me to be in a positive frame of mind.

All in all, staying positive right now is not a problem. However, I don’t like to “borrow trouble,” to use a well-worn phrase. If I could just stay in this limbo of being in remission indefinitely, that would be wonderful. If not, I trust that my myeloma specialists will help me to fight this disease.

What do you do to stay positive while facing multiple myeloma, either as a patient or a caregiver?

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The quotation for this month is from Paulo Coelho de Souza (1947 - ), a Brazilian lyricist and novelist, who said: "When you are enthusiastic about what you do, you feel this positive energy. It's very simple."