It has been a busy autumn for me, both at home and away travelling. My husband Dilip and I went to Scotland for a holiday in October. Visiting there had been on my wish list all my life, since I have Scottish heritage, played bagpipes in a pipe band, and my maternal grandmother lived in Glasgow when I was a child. She always sent my siblings and me gifts from there, as well as books and postcards featuring castles and his­tor­i­cal stories.

Dilip and I toured around Scotland by train, visiting Glasgow, Stirling, Loch Lomond, Inverness, the Kyle of Localsh, and Edinburgh. It was a won­der­ful time, and we also had the opportunity to meet fellow Beacon columnist Marjorie Smith ^[1] and her hus­band. It was so nice to ex­peri­ence real highland hospitality.

I was very glad that we were able to take the trip to Scotland since I went back onto a low level of myeloma treat­ments upon our return home. Although my M-spike was still quite low, my oncologist and I could not help but notice that it was steadily climbing again. So in November I accepted the idea of going back onto Revlimid (lena­lido­mide) plus dexa­meth­a­sone (Decadron), the same treat­ment I was on before my treat­ment holiday began two years ago. I started up on 10 mg of Revlimid, 21 days out of 28, and 10 mg of dex weekly. This is a lower dose than what I left off with over two years ago, but we hope it will be enough to reverse the trend of rising blood counts.

So far, I am adjusting to being back on myeloma medications. I had such a busy time lately that I didn’t have much time to rest up and mostly tried to ignore the side effects of the drugs.

However, I found I have had to start taking sup­port­ive treat­ments again, such as help for the gastro­in­tes­ti­nal issues that Revlimid causes, and a sleep aid for the dexa­meth­a­sone. I’m noticing that I’m more tired and even confused at times. The dexa­meth­a­sone again causes me to be talkative, and I am trying to be mindful about it and even curtail it. It seemed like every time I got on an airplane I was sitting near someone else who had quite a story to tell about their medical problems, since I also was willing to talk with them about my issues!

Soon after I started treat­ment, I took two short trips, one to the Toronto area, and another to Van­couver Island and Van­couver. I had to man­age plane travel on my own, which was a bit chal­lenging. I don’t like to have to lift carry-on luggage into the over­head bins, so I just took on two tote bags to stuff under the seat in front of me on both trips, and I checked one bag.

I enjoyed both trips very much, although I could tell that I was on treat­ment again. On both trips, I felt quite tired and ill from getting back on the medications.

It was an exciting time this autumn, but I am glad to be back home again and am trying to get caught up around here.

As many have noted on the Beacon, the day or two after taking dex is a good time to get chores and physical work done around the house, since it seems to increase energy levels. So in November I helped Dilip to clean our outdoor windows, and we put up our outdoor holiday lights early. I also sorted through clothes and cleaned out closets in an effort to downsize a bit. I have also pulled out many stitching projects to work on, and I've started reading several books, although I haven’t focused well enough to finish them up in an orderly fashion.

I realize that I can get a little confused when taking strong myeloma medications. However, some­times just getting outdoors for a peaceful walk brings everything together and helps me to sort out my day.

Being on treat­ment again brought the myeloma a bit more to the forefront in my life again. I never­the­less try not to worry too much. Myeloma being what it is, at best a long chronic illness, I have had to develop coping mech­a­nisms in order not to get upset about that. Usually my life is busy enough to make me forget my troubles anyways. I have become used to having myeloma, living with it, and hoping for the best in the future.

Nowadays, singing with my choir and just listening to the songs of the season are enough to lift my spirits. I have man­aged to sing in a few concerts with the choir, which was reassuring to me, but I need to cut back on commitments for a while until I get used to this new drug regi­men.

After only one cycle of the regi­men, my M-spike fell to a level of where it was last July, and the kappa levels and the kappa-lambda ratio subsided as well and are in a normal range. These encouraging results will help me to get through the next months in a positive frame of mind.

I am wishing all readers a joyous holiday season and hope that peace fills your lives for this special time of year. I hope that you have the time just to stop and enjoy the beauty of the season, to take time for yourselves, and to enjoy spending time with family and friends.

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The quotation for this month is from Kakuzo Okakura (1862 - 1913), a Japanese scholar, who said: "The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surrounding."