Karen Crowley's most recent Beacon column titled "Live Like You Are Living" struck a chord with me.

In the column, she discussed how some cancer patients meet their disease head on, how they want to live each day to their fullest and not give in, and how they're admired for doing so.

She countered this with the position that it's also okay to feel sorry for yourself, and that we may not always want to, or be able to, …

Results from a recent small Phase 3 clinical trial show that the use of Velcade in preparation for donor stem cell transplantation as well as its use soon after transplantation and as maintenance therapy may be effective in high-risk multiple myeloma patients.

The results also indicate that the use of Velcade (bortezomib) soon after donor trans­­plan­­ta­­tion reduces the risk of developing a life-threatening donor trans­plant-related complication known as graft-versus-host disease.

The researchers note that, similar to other donor transplant protocols, …

I have always been a huge believer in second opinions; however, one of the most stressful and anxiety-provoking things is when the experts do not agree.  I am then in the position of having to sort through the differ­ences, try to under­stand how they have arrived at different conclusions, and then try to make a deci­sion based on available and usually inade­quate information.

It’s not exactly news to anyone with multiple myeloma that there are a lot of medi­cal decisions …

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin recently found that mul­ti­ple myeloma patients are at an increased risk of engraftment syndrome following stem cell transplantation, compared to patients with lym­pho­ma. Engraftment syndrome is a complication that can occur soon after stem cell transplantation.

Within the myeloma population, the risk of engraftment syndrome was in­creased in patients who are over 60 years of age, have been treated with the novel agents Revlimid (lenalidomide) and/or Velcade (bortezo­mib), or have not been …

We are currently in the peak of summer, and fresh fruit and vegetables are plen­ti­­ful and in a great variety.

This made me realize how much my diet and nutrition has changed since I was diag­nosed with multiple myeloma.

The first change that indirectly impacted my eating habits was having vertebral fractures in the spring of 2009. I was immobilized for at least a month and took a lot of medication to manage the pain. My activity levels plummeted to …

Results from a small Phase 2 study conducted in Italy demon­strate that se­quen­tial treatment with novel agents and au­tol­o­gous stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion with intermediate-dose melphalan is a safe and ef­fec­tive treat­ment for older, newly diagnosed myeloma patients.

“This is the first study with a sequential approach of Velcade in­duc­tion, autol­o­gous stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion, and Revlimid main­te­nance,” said the study’s lead investigator, Dr. Antonio Palumbo of the University of Torino in Italy.

The regimen was safest in patients under the age …

I have always been a big dreamer.  Literally.

While deep in slumber, I have fought epic battles alongside caped super heroes, explored exotic distant galaxies, pitched a no-hitter in the World Series, and romanced a bevy of leading ladies of the cinema.

I’ll ask my buddies to kindly stop laughing now, please.

Unfortunately, I’ve also conducted the New York Philharmonic Orchestra sans pants, gotten lost on the way to my bat mitzvah (never mind that I’m neither a girl, nor …