It’s the beginning of a new year and time for resolutions. I’m not actually one to make New Year’s resolutions. However, I did make one back in 2014. At the time, my body told me I was drinking too much coffee, which I was doing mostly just to give me something to do while I worked in my office. I decided two cups a day was a good limit, and I’ve been able to stay with that (with a few …

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 …

Just before Thanksgiving, I received word that my cousin John passed away. His memorial was held the Saturday fol­low­ing the holiday. There isn't anything that makes me think about life and death more than the passing of a friend or relative (except perhaps my cancer diag­nosis). The fact it hap­pened during a time when I was with nearly all of my family made it that much more sig­nif­i­cant.

I hadn't seen John in about six years, and we spent no …

Before I was diag­nosed with multiple myeloma, I don’t think I had ever really thought about the idea of an illness scale, with some illnesses being ‘higher’ on the scale than others. It is difficult to explain exactly what I mean, so I will start out with some examples.

If, for example, you had a cold, you’d probably agree that it would be much worse to have influenza. If you had a disease, or con­di­tion, that could be treated and …

An inter­na­tional team of researchers recently found that people with MGUS who consumed fruit at least three times a week had a lower risk of pro­gress­ing to multiple myeloma than people with MGUS who consumed fruit less frequently.

The impact of higher fruit consumption on risk of pro­gres­sion was sizable. The statistical models developed by the researchers indicate that eating fruit three times or more each week cut the risk of pro­gres­sion by at least a half.

The researchers also …

After reviewing how long I have had multiple myeloma, my myeloma special­ist this July asked me if I had ever had a bone scan done. When I said no, he suggested I get one to establish a base­line. After so much treat­ment, what were my bones doing?

As we discussed the impact of my myeloma treat­ments, especially steroids, on the bones, he said to talk to my dentist if it turns out that I have bone density issues. I would …

A new study by U.S. researchers provides useful insights into the out­comes newly diag­nosed multiple myeloma patients can ex­pec­t from a common sequence of initial treat­ments.

Drawing on data for more than 240 patients treated between 2010 and 2017, the authors of the new study in­ves­ti­gate treat­ment responses and survival out­comes for newly diag­nosed myeloma patients who under­went initial treat­ment with Revlimid (lena­lido­mide), Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib), and dexa­meth­a­sone, followed soon thereafter with an au­tol­o­gous (own) stem cell trans­plant.

More than two …