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 …

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 …

There are a few things about having multiple myeloma that I don’t think I will ever get used to.

One of them is the way people react when they find out that, despite treat­ment, multiple myeloma is a cancer that comes back. It is an un­com­fort­able situation for many people (including me and all the Myeloma Beacon readership!), and I have found that it is often very dif­fi­cult for some people to accept.

When I was first diag­nosed and began treat­ment, I didn’t know this fact myself. I just gradually …

It’s on the tip of my tongue. “I could remove and reinstall the … uh …” pointing at the spot where the wall and the floor meet, moving my hand side-to-side indicating the length of the wall. “The uh …,” pointing again. “Baseboard! I could remove and reinstall the baseboard to save money when the new carpet is installed.”

This is a rough transcript of a real conversation I had this summer when we were planning to redecorate a room in our house. It is an example of a phenomenon that's become all too common …

As many of you know, I have been dealing with multiple myeloma for almost a decade now. One thing I've learned over the years is that receiving medical care as an outpatient can be really time consuming! Fortunately, I've also learned a bit about how to save time at my cancer center, and I thought I'd share some of my learnings.

When I first started to go for appoint­ments, blood draws, or treat­ment at my local cancer center, I was on a steep learning curve. I did not know my way …

“Would you like to meet with our palliative care team?”

I didn’t even hesitate. “Yes.”

A meeting was arranged for the next day. I had a choice of a meeting by phone or in person. That was easy: in person, please.

Before you jump to conclusions, this meeting was not for my palliative care. Rather, it was for my Aunt Ginger, who had been in an area hospital for 10 days, not recovering from the surgical repair of a broken hip.

It was an enlightening and, ultimately, uplifting ex­peri­ence.

The meeting …

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 …