On the day of my very first bone marrow biopsy, the really nice technician en­cour­aged me to relax and to breathe deeply throughout the procedure. I settled down on the table and thanked her for the kind suggestions.

After I asked her to explain the nuts-and-bolts of the biopsy, I immediately stopped relaxing and very nearly stopped breathing. So much for asking ques­tions.

When she eventually pried my hand off of the doorknob and took me back to the cot, …

The sun is shining, and our cats are dreaming in sunbeams about catch­ing quick-footed squirrels just out of reach. Summer … It feels good to finally be here, and so it’s fitting that I now conclude the three-part series on our journey from the dark days of my husband Daniel’s initial diag­no­sis to the brighter days of the present.

As I mentioned in my last column, we moved to Houston in 2012 so that Daniel could be treated by …

The 2014 International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) Annual Summit took place in Milan, Italy on June 9 and 10.

The summit is a special meeting organized by the International Myeloma Foun­da­tion in which leading myeloma researchers get to brainstorm col­lectively about the most pressing issues in the field, find ways to col­lab­o­rate, and plan future laboratory and clinical studies.

The IMWG summit is hailed by most attendees as the most important meeting for myeloma researchers worldwide. It is a unique …

I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma when my only daughter was six months old. I’ve experienced parenthood and cancerhood for ap­prox­i­mate­ly the same amount of time, and I can tell you the one thing these two states have in com­mon: Everyone wants to give you advice.

I suppose most of it is well-meaning advice. I mean, who wouldn’t want to know that letting a three-year-old keep her pacifier is going to turn her into a serial killer? Who doesn’t want …

It’s June, and the spring flowers have given way to colorful annuals and pe­ren­ni­als, such as peonies, poppies, and delphiniums, in my garden. In addition, lilacs and crab apples are still in bloom. This is as close to par­a­dise as it gets here.

After a busy spring of getting the lawn and flower beds tidied up and planted, it’s time to put out a lawn chair, pour an iced tea or lemonade, and find a good book to read. Summer …

“Inconclusive.”  That’s how my myeloma specialist described my current con­di­tion two weeks ago.

While I initially struggled with this description – because there was no clear-cut solution for it – I slowly came to see the upside of my current situation: It allowed me to not hurry to the next treatment, but rather em­brace every day, no matter how uncertain or painful it may be.

My new specialist at the Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, came highly recom­mended by several of my contacts at the …

We’ve had a long, slow spring here in Ohio this year. Oh, there have been a few summerlike days here and there, but mostly the weather has been cool and often rainy, more like mid-April than early June. As a result, the peony bushes in my parents’ yard stayed shut tight for the federal Me­mo­ri­al Day but opened in time for the traditional Me­mo­ri­al Day on May 31.

Memorial Day, which began as Decoration Day following the Civil War, is …