Several years ago, I got into an argument with an oncologist – not my oncologist – over a significance of my IgG jumping up 500 points from the pre­vi­ous reading. When I expressed great dis­may, he snapped, “Oh, do you have a medical degree and extensive training in hematology? Do you know how to read lab reports better than I do?”

If I had not been so rattled by his attack, I would have retorted, “No, but I have lived in …

Results of a recent Phase 2 clin­i­cal trial in Denmark raise questions about the future role of the antibiotic clarithro­mycin (Biaxin) in the treat­ment of multiple myeloma.

Previous research has suggested that adding clarithromycin to standard myeloma treat­ment regi­mens could im­prove treat­ment efficacy without a sig­nif­i­cant increase in side effects.

As a result, clarithromycin-containing regi­mens such as “BiRd” (Biaxin, Revlimid, and dexa­meth­a­sone) have been employed by some myeloma specialists to treat both newly diag­nosed and re­lapsed patients.

The recent Danish …

Results of a study conducted in Switzerland indicate that selective digestive decontamination, a controversial strategy designed to reduce the risk of in­fec­tions, may be effective in myeloma patients undergoing au­tol­o­gous (own) stem cell trans­plan­ta­tion.

The authors of the new study retro­spec­tive­ly reviewed data for over 200 myeloma patients who underwent an inpatient stem cell trans­plant at two hos­pi­tals in Zurich, Switzerland, be­tween 2009 and 2015. About half the patients underwent selective digestive decontamination (SDD) during their trans­plants, while the other …

As I enter my third year of main­te­nance ther­apy after experiencing very little change in my health the past couple years, I sometimes feel as though I’m just “treading water.”

While it's often con­sidered derogatory to say that someone is treading water, being able to swim in that way is actually a very im­por­tant safety skill. A swimmer isn’t going to make any forward progress treading water, but they’re going to keep their head above water (i.e., not drown) …

Our summer here in Calgary was a little unpredictable this year, with daytime temperatures ranging from 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius), with a strong cold north wind blowing, to a record high of 97 degrees Fahrenheit (36 degrees Celsius). Plus, in between the hot weather and the cold windy day, we had weeks of forest fire smoke occluding the sun, triggering a health alert recommending that people stay indoors.

Despite the unpredictable weather, my husband Dilip and I did …

High on the front façade of the former high school in our town are two engraved sayings. The one pertinent in my life right now? “New occasions teach new duties.”

I’ll say.

In mid-July, I was diag­nosed with type 2 diabetes. For the record, it runs in my family on both sides. Further, for the record, my personal physician and I had been watching for it. So it was not a surprise when my HbA1C level, a key test for …

I am not sure if I’ve always been a worrier or not. I think my worrying has been, and maybe still is, in the normal range of worrying, but of course it is rather difficult to tell.

As I’ve mentioned before, prior to being diag­nosed with multiple myeloma, there was a long period of time when I had a lot of unpleasant symp­toms, including back pain, rib pain, and periph­eral neu­rop­athy, to name a few.

Doctors and other medical professionals …