In my February column, I shared my con­cern that my upcoming three-month checkup could reveal that I relapsed. This was due to the fact that the blood test results at my checkup in December showed a faint-to-moderate sign of a monoclonal protein – the first time this had happened since my autologous stem cell transplant in early June of 2014.

I consider myself an optimistic individual. But in the days leading up to my three-month checkups, a pessimistic side of …

As I wrote in my last column, I was at the Mayo Clinic in February for both an oncology check and a cardiology consult.

The cardiology consult I passed with flying colors. I do not have pulmonary hypertension; I do not have amyloid damage to my heart. To borrow from poet Archibald MacLeish, I indeed have a heart and it is in solid shape.

The oncology picture is muddier. I have not relapsed, which is …

I just finished putting on a full-size school carnival earlier this month to raise money for our local high school, and I am still exhausted.

The idea of the carnival was born about 10 years ago when some friends and I were talking about raising money for our local school. Like most public schools, ours in Hawaii are horribly underfunded. I have always been good at fundraising in creative ways, and one of my favorite ways to raise funds is …

This month’s edition of ‘Northern Lights’ marks the 50th column I have written for The Beacon.

Becoming a column writer at the age of 60 more than four years ago makes me a ‘late bloomer’, and it has been a source of great satisfaction to me.

Over the last four years of reading and writing at the Beacon, I have gained a lot of insight and knowledge from the comments left on my columns and from the columns of the …

The de­ci­sions that we must make as cancer patients are all about risk versus reward. If we are told that, without a recommended treat­ment, we will surely die, then the choice is pretty easy, almost re­gard­less of the risk.

But the de­ci­sions that we face are rarely so easy.

Among patients and care­givers, the most hotly debated myeloma treat­ment de­ci­sion is whether or not to undergo a stem cell trans­plant. There are numerous articles on the topic, and the question …

February 9, 2016 was supposed to be a special birthday for me. It marked the fifth anniversary of my autologous stem cell transplant. I had outlived my initial prognosis of four years, which my oncologist had given me at diagnosis (my myeloma is considered high-risk). I had great plans for the day: a mellow cross-country ski with a friend, and coffee afterward with more friends.

However, my wonderful plans ended with me being sidetracked by my disease.

Let’s back up …

It was an unseasonably cool summer morning back in July of 2010, and I had ventured out to get the early delivery from my mailbox up at the corner of the street in our small Missouri town.

When I stepped onto the surprisingly slick, dew-covered lawn, my legs shot out from under me, my arms flailed wildly, and my ball cap and glasses went flying helter-skelter. I landed on my back with a deafening thud which surely must have measured …