Here in “Space City,” we’ve been celebrating an im­por­tant mile­stone. It was 50 years ago when the unthinkable was accomplished, and we became a lunar people. On July 20, 1969 at 10:56 p.m., astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon. With astronaut Michael Collins piloting the capsule, Houston Capcom monitoring the mis­sion, and more than half a billion people watching on television, Armstrong climbed down the ladder and proclaimed: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

The total mis­sion duration …

When you’re looking for wisdom, it’s hard to beat the tried and true lyrics from the jazz standards. One such standard was recorded by Ella Fitzgerald (among others), and it’s called, “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive.” The song begins with this advice:

You got to ac-cent-tchu-ate the pos­i­tive; E-lim-i-nate the neg­a­tive; And latch on to the affirmative; Don't mess with mister inbetween.

You got to spread joy up to the maximum; Bring gloom down to the minimum; Have faith, or pandemonium; Liable to walk upon the scene.

There are lots of everyday hassles and …

There are times when I wonder how we got here. There was a time before these days when we were newly married. Not even 30 years of age, we were carefree and filled with the op­ti­mism born of a newlywed couple. The future was an unwritten book, full of world travels, chil­dren playing on vin­tage harlequin tile floors, and growing old together.

That was nearly 15 years ago. I barely recog­nize us now. The love remains – and nothing could change it – but these days are not what we planned, and sometimes I feel much …

My husband, Daniel, likes a movie called “All of Me” starring Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin. The film uses a “body-switching” plot device whereby the characters are suddenly thrust into un­familiar roles, and the audience laughs as they watch them adjust to another person’s life.

Lately, we’ve been starring in our own role reversals.

For once, things seemed to be going well with Dan’s treat­ment; his main­te­nance ther­apy consisting of Empliciti (elotuzumab), Revlimid (lena­lido­mide), and dexa­meth­a­sone (Decadron) appears to be having a positive impact. Last month we learned that his M-spike has gone down …

The ball has dropped. Confetti has fallen. And another year has com­menced. We are in 2019 now, but until last week, Daniel and I were still awaiting resolutions to 2018 problems.

In my last column before Thanksgiving, I shared that my husband Daniel would be starting main­te­nance ther­apy for his myeloma. One of the goals of the treat­ment would be to help him achieve a partial or com­plete remission, which had eluded us after his au­tol­o­gous stem cell trans­plant in October. He was supposed to start the main­te­nance right away.

We met …

A long time ago, we knew that we wanted my husband, Daniel, to be treated at a major cancer research hospital for his multiple myeloma.  We felt strongly enough about this that we sold our house, packed up our things, and relocated to Houston, Texas so that we could be close to such a center.

If we’ve ever needed a reason to believe that we made a good choice, learn­ing that Daniel’s myeloma was much more difficult to treat than we ex­pec­ted answered that question for us. We would need imaginative solu­tions if …

I have a red-headed friend with lym­phoma. She seems to be an outlier on the spectrum of “average responses” to treat­ment. Even common front­line drugs have caused her unexpected side effects. When it comes to her treat­ment, she teases her specialists that she’s a “medical uni­corn,” some­thing never before seen. I’m beginning to think she’s not the only one.

I am writing this column on Day +11, or the eleventh day after my husband Daniel’s au­tol­o­gous stem cell trans­plant. The road we took to get here did not go accord­ing to plan. He’s …