My multiple myeloma diagnosis chal­lenges a funda­mental way that I’ve lived my life. I’ve always been one to use my knowledge and logic to take control and manage events.

Obviously, as patients, we simply don't control as much of our future as we once did. The disease is the primary in­flu­encer, and while we have choices about treat­ment options, we don't really control those either. I've struggled with the feeling that I've lost control, but that is not the challenge …

I’ve been a fan of figure skating since I was a child. I watched every Winter Olympics to see the skaters compete. I still like to go to the ice rink and watch skaters. When I’m there, I’ll close my eyes and listen, waiting for the "swoosh ... swoosh" as the skaters pass by with their colorful, spandexed gusts.

Recently, I took a rest from my errands in the mall and went to my favorite perch by the ice rink. This …

Several months after I had my stem cell transplant, my doctor suggested that it would be a good idea to begin maintenance treatment with Rev­limid (lena­lido­mide). He believed that main­te­nance was likely to lead to longer pro­gres­sion-free survival. I remember him saying that, in his experience, main­te­nance therapy often put the myeloma into hiber­nation. That sounded good to me – long-term hiber­nation, I hope.

He also explained to my husband Graham and me that he thought that the main­te­nance therapy might …

We just celebrated Thanksgiving this month here in Canada. It’s an op­por­tun­ity for families and friends to gather together, have a feast of their choice, and pause to reflect on their blessings in life.

This year, I felt very positive, and I was grateful for so many things in my life.

I felt very different in the autumn of 2009 when I recently had been diag­nosed with multiple myeloma. I was depressed and in a mild state of panic. …

In September, I wrote about a planned meeting with my myeloma specialist and what that might reveal about the effective­ness of my current treat­ment of Darzalex (dara­tumu­mab). Two weeks before the road trip to Minnesota to meet with my specialist, I’d finished the first part of the regi­men, which was one in­fusion one time a week for eight weeks.

My husband and I compressed this road trip more than usual, both coming and going. A close friend’s memorial service took …

When I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, I wasn’t experi­enc­ing any obvi­ous symptoms of the disease. I’ve also avoided substantial side effects from treat­ment. Even so, I am impacted by the disease and treat­ment, and I thought it might be useful, especially for newly diag­nosed patients, if I shared my experi­ences.

For much of my adult life, I’ve had “back issues” so I didn’t really think much of the back pain I was experi­enc­ing prior to my myeloma diagnosis. I’d …

The breeze swirls about my face as I peer out towards the space where the thin blue lines meet on the hori­zon. The water is de­ceivingly calm now. From my painted Adirondack perch, I can hear the lapping of the water and crest­ing of the waves, and the sounds of children laughing as they buried one another in the sand. I welcome the sun from my favorite pier off the Galveston Seawall, and I think about how dif­fer­ent things were …