“Seventeen minutes slower ...” In August, 2010, I was 17 minutes slower in the Cherry Creek Sprint Triathlon – an 800-meter swim, 12-mile bike ride, and a 5k run – than the previous year. Seventeen minutes slower was a worrisome change for me.

Before you mistake me for a lean, mean, athletic machine, let me intro­duce myself. I am a 71-year old woman who is a little overweight, a strong swimmer, and a power walker. As an athlete, I am truly a …

I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma nearly 10 years ago. I remember a doctor telling me it was an “exciting time” for myeloma.

At the time, I felt the exact opposite of excited, but now I can understand what he meant. Over the last decade, many new myeloma treatments have been ap­proved and even more are on the way. Life expectancy and op­ti­mism has in­creased.

Although there is never a “good” time to get cancer, I know I’ve been …

If you have ever read any of my past columns, you will already know that I am all about “carpe diem,” or seizing the day. My father is my inspiration for this outlook. He has spent 50 years battling debilitating multiple sclerosis (MS) with a positive attitude that has allowed him to do the most with whatever he has each day.

My father's amazing ability to keep plugging away with a smile through his life-altering disease has carried me through …

Life is full of choices and decisions. For those of us afflicted with multiple myeloma, we are forced to make decisions that, prior to our diagnosis, we never imagined we would have to make. Is a second opinion necessary? Do I watch and wait or start treatment immediately? Undergo a stem cell trans­plant or even a tandem trans­plant? Pursue main­te­nance therapy or go treatment-free until relapse?

Unfortunately, these decisions are guided by the necessity of treating an in­cur­able disease. They …

I was never a fan of the late Joan Rivers, but all the same I’m going to use her trademark line.

Can we talk?

Many of us who live in the myeloma subdivision of Cancer­land deal with a re­peating issue that is so clearly differ­en­tiated along gender lines I am sur­prised no one has raised the issue with the feds.

Women, you all know what I am talking about: the 24-hour urine collection to check for protein.

Surely this was …

Sometimes in the summer here in the foothills of the Rockies, we have severe thunderstorms and hail. One such storm last month included funnel clouds, a precursor to tornadoes. Although hail came pelting down, no harm to people was reported that afternoon because our whole city was alerted by a tornado watch. My husband Dilip and I were glad not to be out driving around, since some underpasses were flooded and cars were stranded.

There was a silver lining to …

Let me start out with a quick update about how I’m doing after my salvage transplant earlier this summer.

As I become more active, I’m experiencing more bone pain. It’s hard to know if the pain is caused by old lesions or newly formed ones. I’ll know more later this week after having some tests done.

I’m feeling much stronger; I’m walking, swimming, and doing intense physical therapy. I lost a lot of muscle mass over the summer, but …