The last three months have been extraordinarily varied in quality of life for me, reminding me of the title of an old Clint Eastwood movie, “The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.”

My good days have been delightful. On my bad days, I've been challenged by a virus or stomach issues. And on my ugly days, I’ve been beset by fevers, coughs, and even worse stomach issues.

It might be a bit of an exaggeration to describe the initial few years of my treatment as a honeymoon, but they certainly seem easy …

The end of the year provides a great time for review and reflection.

2012 has been a momentous one for me in my journey with myeloma. It included both difficult and awe-inspiring moments.

I went off chemotherapy in February in preparation for a stem cell transplant. I have not been back on it since then. No more exciting steroid “highs” - but no more steroid rages either!

In early March, I underwent a stem cell transplant. I lost my remaining hair. I recently stumbled across a draft email I had …

I’m writing this column a few days before Thanksgiving, on a bright and glorious fall day.

There’s a little excitement in the air, as we prepare to take the train to Washington D.C. to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal with our extended family. We are eager for the trip, as this is a year we are especially aware of how much we have to be thankful for.

It’s cool outside, but I’m using a computer in a warm, well-lit room in lower Manhattan. The steam is hissing in the radiators. The refrigerator …

A few weeks ago, I underwent an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of my spine. This procedure is not unusual for multiple myeloma patients. The MRI generates images of bones and organs and can be used to determine the presence and status of cancerous lesions in myeloma patients’ bones.

After my autologous stem cell transplant in March, I had developed painful carpal tunnel syndrome in my hands and wrists. My hematologist ordered an MRI to rule out spinal cord lesions as a possible cause.

Because I had undergone a couple of MRIs in …

This past spring, much of the northeastern United States had an unusual hot spell. In New York City, the spring trees and shrubs burst into bloom in March, a month ahead of time. I spent most of that month in the hospital undergoing a stem cell transplant, isolated from the extraordinary weather.

The first few days in the hospital, I had a glimmer of Central Park through the hallway windows. From my eleventh floor perch, I looked longingly at the joggers and bike riders exercising near the reservoir. But I was soon …

Before I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2010, medical science was not my field of expertise, but rather my wife’s. She is a pediatric endocrinologist and had taught me about pediatric diabetes and other metabolic disorders.  

I, on the other hand, was an expert in municipal law. I also had developed an expertise in construction accidents because, for eight years, I had been working with a New York City government agency that regulated construction. I was responsible for editing many of the reports on construction accidents that affected the public, and …

Three months have passed since I left the hospital after my stem cell transplant. 

I am in a quiet and watchful time period, regrouping my energy and my brain cells for the next phase of my life. 

I have been regularly delighted by being able to return to “normal” activities such as shaving and an occasional visit to the barber. While my barber doesn’t have much work to do on my head, he is a phenomenally upbeat guy and entertains me with details of his youth, such as harvesting olives in Sicily. …