Many multiple myeloma patients and caregivers live in a new, Internet-centered world.

As recently as five or six years ago, someone with multiple myeloma would have heard about a new anti-myeloma therapy from their oncologist—probably when the new drug was being prescribed for the first time—or possibly while deciding whether or not to participate in a clinical trial.

Man, have times changed!  Not only are there as many as 90 different myeloma-related drugs or drug combinations being researched now, but thanks to websites like The Myeloma Beacon, it is easier than ever …

Who are you when you stop doing? Leaving the shelter of a healthy physical body for one threatened by multiple myeloma led me to stop doing. Then I found myself doing different things—medical appointments, hospitals, and treatments. Stepping back from “doing” into “being” helped me heal.

Quiet and private surroundings seemed to compensate for the uncertainty of my disease. There are no problems or illness in the stillness of the present moment of now—until movement of body and mind allows pain to arise.

I am in the process of packing and moving. …

I have written about the challenges and frustrations of “watchful waiting” here in the past.

I believe this is one of the most challenging aspects of living with multiple myeloma—sometimes all we can do is watch and wait for our myeloma to return.

But something exciting happened to me today, which has changed my whole attitude about this.  I would like to share the details with you now.

During a follow-up appointment with my myeloma specialist, Dr. Melissa Alsina from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, Dr. Alsina became concerned about …

Most of us with myeloma have probably experienced those days when some drug side effect has ruined an otherwise perfectly good spring day, or summer afternoon.

In the first year of my post-stem cell transplant days, I managed to find myself in the hospital on Memorial Day, July 4, and Labor Day weekends.  How exciting.  On one of those stays, I clearly recall sitting and reading a book by the room’s open window, listening to revelers late in the night having a grand old time as their sounds carried the distance from …

Last week I shared a few of the higher profile, public figures who have inspired me in my fight against multiple myeloma.

This week I would like to concentrate on the extraordinary people who work behind the scenes to help those of us with multiple myeloma.  They don’t get as much notoriety or praise for what they do, but they each inspire me to get up and get going every day.

Caregivers top the list.  I have been there, so I understand how difficult it is to watch someone you love suffer, …

As this year’s Mother’s Day drew near, my thoughts turned to­ward the two ‘mothers’ who have had a major influence on the way I have ap­proached my battle with multiple myeloma: my mother, Eva, and the mother of my chil­dren, Karen.

After years of dealing with an array of perplexing symp­toms initially, and incorrectly, attributed to arthritis, my mom, while in her mid 40s, was diag­nosed with multiple sclerosis. We myeloma patients know all about tricky diagnoses.

In a matter of a few short years, multiple sclerosis, an auto­immune disease that …

There are so many people who have inspired me since my diagnosis in April 2007.  Some are public figures, and some work their magic in relative obscurity.   All have played an important part in my ongoing battle against multiple myeloma.

I’ll write this week about the public figures, and next week I'll write about the many other people who have inspired me.

Like many of you, Geraldine Ferraro tops the list.  She was the first celebrity survivor I ran across shortly after my diagnosis.  The fact that she was still alive after …