Lou Ganim’s most recent article in his Beacon column “Birds In Spring” looks at the reactions of others when they learn that you have cancer. It reminded me how a “coming out” process has unfolded for me in the last few years.

My diagnosis eight years ago was not a quiet doctor’s office discovery. After weeks of frequently calling in sick to work and little social life, an emergency room visit left me no time or space to hide. …

At the beginning of our cancer journey, a dear friend, whose husband has been battling various cancers for nearly six years, shared the best piece of advice she was given about coping with cancer: Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint.  This week, those words have rung true in several ways.

The Chicago Marathon is two weeks away.  I’m so excited to participate that I can barely stand it.  Last Sunday, I ran (perhaps traversed would be the better …

Multiple myeloma is the most frequent cancer to involve the skeleton, with up to 80 percent of patients having bone disease. Although fewer patients appear to have bone involvement more recently, it is still a major source of both complications and death among patients with myeloma.

Bone disease is so severe in myeloma because the normal bone remodeling process is disrupted. In normal individuals, damaged bone is removed by bone-destroying cells, the osteoclasts, and then bone is replaced by bone-forming …

The European Medicines Agency announced earlier today that its Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has completed its safety review of Revlimid. The review was started earlier this year after several studies showed an increased risk of new cancers in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients being treated with Revlimid (lenalidomide) and other treatments.

The Agency's Committee has concluded that "the benefits of Revlimid, particularly improved survival, continue to outweigh the risks but recommended that the prescribing information …

I just returned from my first air travel since my stem cell transplant in July.

It has been ten weeks since my stem cells were infused back into my body and seven weeks since I returned home.

All of this begs the question:  Should I wear a protective mask in the airport?  How about on the plane?

Those of you who read my column regularly know I normally take an aggressive stance when it comes to what I can and …

According to a recent Italian study, the results of PET/CT scans conducted at diagnosis, after induction therapy, and after stem cell transplantation may predict survival in multiple myeloma patients.

Specifically, the study authors found that patients with PET/CT scans negative for cancer cells, bone lesions, or other signs of active cancer had longer progression-free and overall survival times than patients with positive PET/CT scans.

“[Our study shows] a clear identification of the prognostic relevance of PET/CT [along with] other more …

I recently read an article in the Kansas City Star that looked at how cancer patients are treated by others, and how we are looked upon by our society in general.

Overall, I thought the sense of the article was quite negative, but maybe not far off the mark.

It reminded me, too, that I don’t really want others to think of me first off as a cancer patient.

A couple of years ago, for example, I was speaking …