As you may remember from my pre­vi­ous column, I started treat­ment with Darzalex, Revlimid, and dexa­meth­a­sone in early Octo­ber.

By now, I have re­ceived six weekly Darzalex (dara­tu­mu­mab) in­fusions, and quite a bit has hap­pened as I adjust to being on a new regi­men.

After the first in­fusion, I had a mild cough that turned into quite a deep, hacking cough. I could hardly sleep for a week. It didn’t appear to be a "productive" cough, so I took Benadryl (di­phen­hy­dra­mine) and cough med­i­cines and sat upright a lot at …

As I mentioned in my recent columns, my M-spike and serum free light chain levels have been rising over the past few months, in­di­cating I might have to start treat­ment in the near future. The reprieve from med­i­ca­tions this year had been really nice, but in the world of myeloma, it seems to be wishful thinking that my dis­ease would suddenly halt and disappear without help from the drugs avail­able to us now.

So, earlier this month, upon consultation with my doctors and my family, I decided to try a new …

As I have related in pre­vi­ous columns, I am cur­rently in a stable con­di­tion with a low level of myeloma protein in my blood. This status has allowed me to be off treat­ments since the beginning of the year. My multiple myeloma is closely monitored in that I get blood tests every four to six weeks. I am cur­rently basically in a "watch and wait" situation until the time when I may have to start treat­ment again.

At first I was really nervous about this "watching and waiting" because it involves a …

It’s summer here in Calgary, and sunshine and showers are alter­nat­ing. Everything is green, and the gardens are a joy to behold. It’s not too warm; in fact, our daytime high tem­per­a­tures on the colder days have been only 52 degrees Fahrenheit (11 degrees Celsius).

This is good weather for walking, and my husband and I got out cycling on Canada Day, July 1. We went along the Bow River path­way for a few miles, and really enjoyed seeing nature there. We saw ospreys in a nest on a plat­form, geese …

I feel fortunate that, as a myeloma patient, I still am able to lead a rel­a­tive­ly nor­mal life at this point in time. I am feeling particularly well right now since I went off of myeloma medications this past January.

My current state of health allows me to be very active and involved in my growing family. These days, a typical day of mine consists of exercising, gardening, housework, shopping, and looking after babies and toddlers (I am a grandmother of five little boys, the youngest just born in May).  …

Recently, my myeloma specialist sent me for a PET/CT scan. I have had many annual skeletal X-ray scans, but since I now have had two cancers (multiple myeloma and breast cancer), and the PET/CT pro­ce­dure scans more deeply into the bones and tissue than regular x-rays, this seemed like a good idea.

Results of the scan will provide a base­line for my health going for­ward. If there were any hotspots of fast- growing can­cer­ous tissue cells in my sys­tem, the test would show them.

My husband accompanied me to my appoint­ment …

It has been a very cold winter here in Calgary since the end of this January. Having arctic tem­per­a­tures of below -4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 degrees Celsius) for many days in a row has been stressful for people and for wild­life. We people can bundle up in our parkas, boots, and down mitts to get outdoors for a walk on a sunny day. We can also drive to a shopping mall to walk around there, or go to the gym for an indoor work­out. My husband and I have been doing all …