It’s the beginning of a new year and time for resolutions. I’m not actually one to make New Year’s resolutions. However, I did make one back in 2014. At the time, my body told me I was drinking too much coffee, which I was doing mostly just to give me something to do while I worked in my office. I decided two cups a day was a good limit, and I’ve been able to stay with that (with a few exceptions). My resolve has paid off.

Apparently, a New Year's commitment to …

It has been a busy autumn for me, both at home and away travelling. My husband Dilip and I went to Scotland for a holiday in October. Visiting there had been on my wish list all my life, since I have Scottish heritage, played bagpipes in a pipe band, and my maternal grandmother lived in Glasgow when I was a child. She always sent my siblings and me gifts from there, as well as books and postcards featuring castles and his­tor­i­cal stories.

Dilip and I toured around Scotland by train, visiting …

Just before Thanksgiving, I received word that my cousin John passed away. His memorial was held the Saturday fol­low­ing the holiday. There isn't anything that makes me think about life and death more than the passing of a friend or relative (except perhaps my cancer diag­nosis). The fact it hap­pened during a time when I was with nearly all of my family made it that much more sig­nif­i­cant.

I hadn't seen John in about six years, and we spent no time together as adults. Still, the news of his death hit me hard. …

Before I was diag­nosed with multiple myeloma, I don’t think I had ever really thought about the idea of an illness scale, with some illnesses being ‘higher’ on the scale than others. It is difficult to explain exactly what I mean, so I will start out with some examples.

If, for example, you had a cold, you’d probably agree that it would be much worse to have influenza. If you had a disease, or con­di­tion, that could be treated and cured, you would be likely to cope with it more easily than …

After reviewing how long I have had multiple myeloma, my myeloma special­ist this July asked me if I had ever had a bone scan done. When I said no, he suggested I get one to establish a base­line. After so much treat­ment, what were my bones doing?

As we discussed the impact of my myeloma treat­ments, especially steroids, on the bones, he said to talk to my dentist if it turns out that I have bone density issues. I would need a clean dental bill of health before starting any bone strengthening …

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 was recently reminded of an important lesson about statistics that applies to multiple myeloma. Interestingly enough, I was reminded of the lesson sitting in a stadium full of soccer fans, of all places. While a reg­u­la­tion soccer match is 90 minutes long, the official time is kept by the referee and he or she can add a few minutes to every match to compensate for the time play was stopped for injuries or other reasons. In the 93^rd minute of the last game of the regular season, the Seattle Sounders scored …