“How did it get so late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon. December is here before it's June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” - Dr. Seuss

Two years. Where has the time gone?

I just celebrated the second anniversary of my au­tol­o­gous stem cell trans­plant. At times, it seems like only yesterday. At other times, I can hardly remember it and have to wonder if it happened at all. …

It’s already August, and summer goes by so quickly! The spring and early summer flowers are giving way to del­phin­iums, roses, asters, and sun­flowers. This spring I planted seeds for sun­flowers and nasturtiums in my garden, and I think they will be in full bloom this month.

Thankfully, my life is going along quite smoothly now, and I am in the midst of a busy family life. My husband and I have had our fourth grand­child, born to our older …

Here we are again. It’s 4 a.m. and Daniel, my husband with myeloma, sleeps inter­mittently between inter­rup­tions from the hospital staff. His last dosage of Lovenox (enoxaparin) was admin­istered at 2 a.m., and they’ve just come in again to get his blood pressure, tem­per­a­ture, and urine output (which hasn’t changed since the pre­vi­ous inter­rup­tion).

Last time I wrote such a column, we were on the stem cell trans­plant floor at the cancer center, trying to understand Daniel’s in­fec­tion and immunity issues …

I’ve recently returned from a walking safari in northern Kenya. The words that best describe how I feel about our trip are simply: thank you, or in the Samburu language, ashe oleng.

It was an unwritten, unexpressed dream of mine for such a long time to return to this beautiful land and its people. Ever since my multiple myeloma diag­nosis in 2015, I’ve almost been frightened to think that it might be possible. But it has happened, and I am …

I like to read mystery novels sometimes, and I started that back in my childhood reading Nancy Drew books. As I became older, I realized that there are many unsolved mysteries in the world, and the medical field has more than its fair share of them. When I con­sider how medical research in the field of multiple myeloma alone has progressed recently, it seems obvious to me that the more researchers learn about immunity and hematology, the more likely it …

As I lie here in a clinic bed, watching the nurse put on her gown and gloves to prepare my infusion of Kyprolis (car­filz­o­mib), I wonder how this all became "normal."

I remember the first time I felt like a medical patient on this journey. It was in March 2016 when I went in for the first of what would be three (so far) bone marrow biopsies. I distinctly remember how strange it felt to be shown into a treat­ment …

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how myeloma treat­ment is like being a contestant on a game show. You never know what’s lurking behind the screens once you get called up from the audience. It could be a new car, or it could be a “wah-wah-wah.”

Today, my husband Daniel com­pleted his 3^rd cycle of Kyprolis (car­filz­o­mib), Revlimid (lena­lido­mide), and dexa­meth­a­sone (Decadron) for his multiple myeloma. In a week, he will have his next round of myeloma labs, and then we’ll meet …