I have been living with multiple myeloma for almost six years now, and I am grateful that, after a period of initial treatment,  I have had the oppor­tun­ity to get back to a nearly normal life again.

You might think that, after such a long time, I needn’t worry about the future, or become stressed about the disease sometimes, but that is not always the case.

My relapse last autumn and subsequent return to treatment on the stron­gest dosage of …

The results of a recently published study show that, among newly diag­nosed myeloma patients, African-Americans are less likely than white Americans to have the four most common myeloma-related chro­mo­somal ab­nor­mal­ities.

The authors of the study investigated how often the chro­mo­somal ab­nor­mal­ities t(11;14), t(4;14), del(13q), and del(17p) were present in two dif­fer­ent groups of newly diagnosed myeloma patients. One group con­sisted of African-Americans, the other of white Americans.

Each of the four ab­nor­mal­ities occurred less frequently in the African-American patients.

In …

Last month I promised to share details of my new myeloma treatment plan. As I write this, I’m waiting to meet with a leading myeloma specialist at the University of Iowa for a second opinion.

I spent several days here undergoing extensive testing, including a bone marrow biopsy, PET scan, and MRI that looked at two thirds of my body and took an ex­cruciatingly long 80 minutes; that’s a long time to hold still!

I’m anxious to go over the …

‘Why do you call it the bacon, Daddy?’ five-year-old Lizzie asked as she wheedled her way onto my lap against my mock protests back in the summer of 2010.

At the very mention of ‘bacon’, arguably one of the English language’s most enchanting words, I entered into an almost Manchurian-candidate-meets-Pavlov’s-dog-like trance:

‘Bacon? What bacon? There’s bacon?’

‘You know, that bacon thingy you’re doing that Mommy says I shouldn’t bother you ‘cause of.’

I had to laugh because Lizzie’s interpretation of …

Initial results of a large, head-to-head clinical trial show that re­lapsed myeloma patients treated with high-dose Kyprolis and dex­a­meth­a­sone had twice the pro­gres­sion-free survival of re­lapsed patients treated with Velcade and dex­a­meth­a­sone.

Median pro­gres­sion-free survival in the Phase 3 trial was 18.7 months in trial participants treated with high-dose Kyprolis (car­filz­o­mib) and dex­a­meth­a­sone (Decadron), compared to 9.4 months in patients treated with Velcade (bor­tez­o­mib) and dex­a­meth­a­sone.

The results of the so-called “ENDEAVOR” trial were announced …

If you were to walk through my kitchen, you’d see myriad white ironstone platters and pitchers atop honey-colored cabinets. You’d probably also spy a golden tabby smugly perched on the stone countertop. And, most days, you’d find a jigsaw puzzle on my kitchen table.

I like jigsaw puzzles. I’ve been putting them together for years. I like the process of sorting out the border pieces and piling like colors, patterns, and shapes. I take satisfaction in finding bridge pieces that …

At the end of my last column, I teased that one of the most positive out­growths of my myeloma diagnosis was that it fostered an unexpected reunion. This is that story.

I was sitting in my hospital room on a Sunday morning the day after I had been told that I likely had multiple myeloma. I remained hospitalized fol­lowing my Friday night / Saturday morning transfusion experience so that I could get a bone marrow biopsy first thing Monday …