After my myeloma diagnosis in early March 2006, I received induction therapy with thalido­mide (Thalomid) and dexa­metha­sone (Decadron), which lasted for eight months. At the time, this treat­ment regimen had just been approved for newly diag­nosed myeloma patients. As I’m sure you all know, the regimen is now essentially obsolete, which is a good measure of the recent progress in myeloma treat­ment!

After diagnosis, I took a term of sick leave from my university, and spent virtually my …

A few months ago, a reader named Ginny D asked a question in response to one of my columns. She rhetorically asked “Why is cancer so hard? Not only for patients, but for caregivers, friends, and family? Why, for example, does it seem harder than heart disease or other life-threatening illnesses?”

I think it’s a great question.

I’m sure that almost everybody has had to go through the gut-wrenching ex­peri­ence of having someone (either themselves or a loved one) …

In my column last month, I shared details of my plan to push the envelope and undergo back-to-back, or tandem, autologous stem cell transplants.

I made a forceful point in that column about the importance of living in the moment; not looking ahead to the point that I lost precious days in the weeks leading up to the second transplant.

For the most part, I was pretty good at living in the moment. For example, I squeezed in a …

As I approach the seven-year anniversary of my Thanksgiving 2008 multiple myeloma diagnosis, I wanted to share a little bit about the results from my most recent myeloma check-up.

But first, I’d like to tell you about some of the quirky things that have recently happened:

It was not once, not twice, but four times in the span of two weeks that I’d been contacted by friends that I haven’t seen in years. Their common message was how sorry they …

I have always been fascinated by contradictions, especially in people.

I am myself a walking contradiction. Generally, I am as analytical and ob­jective as they come. Just give me the facts, do the research, and come to a conclusion. If it cannot be explained scientifically, then it does not exist.

And yet I am extremely superstitious. I won’t pick up a “lucky penny” un­less it is face up. One time I picked up a tails-up penny on my way into …

Fall 2015. I sit on my back porch, relaxing under trees brilliant with fall colors. I’m feeling good. I challenge myself to remember my myeloma past.

In January 2011, Colorado was experiencing a record cold spell, and I was not feeling good. I had survived two rounds of aggressive induction therapy, the first leg of my cancer triathlon. Lab values confirmed my blood was scrubbed clean of myeloma cells.

It was time to prepare for the next stage of the cancer …

During my husband Daniel’s last specialist visit, I noticed a young couple sitting in the waiting room that I hadn’t seen before. They appeared to be in their late thirties and were nicely dressed, like they had just come from work. They looked ill at ease with their environment, as if this was all something new for them.

Since the woman’s plastic bracelet matched my husband’s, I could guess why. She sat there stoically, with her hands folded neatly …