It’s been two years since my multiple myeloma diagnosis and the begin­ning of this journey. So much has happened since then.

When you watch events day-to-day, it’s easy to miss their significance – even in the case of big events. Given more perspective, however, the chal­lenges and changes become more clear, and I now recognize the many new begin­nings I’ve en­countered in my myeloma life.

In one of my pre­vious columns, I wrote about the challenging months fol­low­ing my …

We live in a world today where everything is “on-demand.” We have television apps that show movies anytime we want to see them. We carry hand-held computers that can answer our every query while making an overseas call. Services exist to deliver anything we want at any hour, and we can even pay our bills while in the comfort of our living rooms.

Amidst all this “on-demand” life, it’s difficult for people to understand why they can’t do more for …

A hot topic in my coffee klatch is com­pre­hensive cancer care. Mark, our ring­leader and the healthiest of the bunch, constantly brings our con­versa­tion round to that con­cept.

(For the record, there are four of us in the klatch, three of whom have cancer, and the fourth of whom has some mysterious debili­tating chronic illness, or com­bi­nation of illnesses, that has stumped several major medical insti­tu­tions.)

Mark’s passion is connecting the dots between oncology and com­pre­hensive care. So …

In one of my previous columns, I promised to describe in more detail the days and weeks immediately following my stem cell transplant. I have read many accounts in The Beacon of this critical period in the transplant process. Everyone has to endure the ups and downs of recovery and the drawn-out wait for the bone marrow to start producing all the blood cells that we need. It seems that this time is different for every multiple myeloma patient.

I …

It’s been so long now since I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (11 years) that I sometimes forget that everyone around me isn’t in the same, or a similar, boat. This is particularly true given that it’s been so long since I was last in intensive treatment; I had my stem cell transplant 10 years ago in January. As a result, I generally feel like I’m trundling through life pretty much like everyone else, and I tend to forget that diseases …

We are seeing the first signs of spring here at the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, and somehow the change in seasons reminded me that I haven't taken any multiple myeloma treatments for six months now. I was going through treatments for breast cancer last fall, and my oncologist therefore thought it would be helpful to give me a break from my myeloma treat­ments during that time.

Fortunately, everything has worked out well thus far. The breast cancer was caught …

The sky is big and blue with gauzy clouds, and the hillsides populated with strange shapes of cacti and spiky grasses. This is the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument near the border between Arizona and Mexico. I was struck by the harsh alien beauty. We camped three nights there, hiked, attended ranger talks at night, and learned lots about the cacti. The night was quiet and dark because of the distance from towns. Every campsite was bordered by its own …