This week I’d like to discuss two questions that patients often have: Is it OK to suggest a change in a treatment plan due to side effects, trends in numbers, or having learned about a better therapy regimen? If a patient’s doctor suggests a treatment option that they don’t really like, should the patient suggest another one?

The answer to both questions is YES!

Treating multiple myeloma is definitely a work in progress. There's no one right answer. Setting goals and having a treatment plan is important. But we also need to …

In March of 2006, I was 47 years old and thought I was on top of my game. I had a busy, thriving Ear, Nose, and Throat medical practice and a great wife and two kids, one in 8th grade and one in 5th. I was compulsively physically active, with a rigorous workout schedule. But something was not right.

Every Saturday morning, I worked out with a group of friends and began to notice that I was becoming short of breath more easily. Friends who I could usually outrun were blowing …

The days of a cancer patient blindly following the doctor's orders and rarely getting a second opinion are over. For multiple myeloma, there aren't just one or two standard treatment options.

Instead, you and your doctor will often face a choice of three or more treatment plans. Some physicians prefer certain approaches, so it’s important when you are first diagnosed to get an opinion from several different treatment centers and to select the one whose approach you are comfortable with.

Sometimes your treatment choices are limited by other underlying health issues—or by …

Her eyes twinkled at me through the slit below her bright green stocking cap and above the powder blue mask that covered her nose and mouth. She was tiny compared to the waiting room chair. Her feet didn’t quite reach the floor, and I noticed that her tennis shoes had a fuzzy green ball on the laces that matched her stocking cap in both color and whimsy.

I had arrived at the clinic without an appointment and checked in at the reception desk to see if my doctor could squeeze me in. …

Last week I shared a list of questions all multiple myeloma patients should consider.

Let's cover the first question this week: “How carefully should a patient be tracking and following their numbers?”

There is no right or wrong answer here. What is important is you begin to understand which numbers are important. This varies from patient to patient.

Lab (blood work) reports can be overwhelming! Ask your nurse or doctor to point out the important numbers.

For example, creatinine levels help monitor kidney function. Multiple myeloma patients can be at risk for …

A friend recently mentioned that her new task in life is to ask for the impossible. This idea captured my imagination because so much of living with multiple myeloma is about asking for the best possible outcomes that often feel impossible. Each case of myeloma is so individual, as evidenced by the variety of stories I have read here on The Myeloma Beacon.

Storytelling seems to be a natural reaction to illness. Writing about our experiences may even raise our antibodies against illness and pain to help us become well.

During the …

I had been experiencing mild, intermittent pain in my right hip and femur for months. About ten days ago, the pain became acute—so much so I could barely walk.

Although it has improved some since, my wife Pattie insisted I move up my scheduled quarterly visit to Moffitt Cancer Center and get it checked out. I'm so glad I did!

An examination and subsequent MRI showed probable myeloma-related activity in my hip and fluid in my hip joint that will probably require radiation.

To make matters worse, my M-spike (monoclonal protein level) …