“You have multiple myeloma.” I would guess you didn't even know what multiple myeloma was when you heard those fateful words some time ago.

But chances are, if you are reading this column, you moved past that uninformed point some time ago.

As a newly diagnosed patient, you go from knowing nothing about your cancer to being an expert in a matter of months. Continue along the learning curve I just described, and your understanding may exponentially expand to the point where you begin to understand and even use “myeloma speak.”

The …

I was thinking the other day about mortality. By no means am I obsessed with this, but a thought process about one’s own mortality is, for me at least, sometimes unavoidable, given a life-shortening multiple myeloma diagnosis.

There doesn’t seem to be much written – there’s some – about the psychic impact of living with a disease that’s pretty much always fatal, and one where you don’t really have a clue when your myeloma will turn on you and go from “manageable” to untreatable. From comments I’ve heard from patients, I know …

One week ago, I celebrated an important milestone: I have survived 43 months with multiple myeloma.

What was so important about 43 months? That was the median life expectancy at the time I was diagnosed.

It is only human nature to immediately ask the question, “Doctor, how long do I have to live?” after you learn you have cancer.

My Mayo Clinic oncologist, Dr. Steven Zeldenrust, was forthright and honest with me when I asked him that question back in the spring of 2007.

Dr. Zeldenrust said that the average Stage II …

More and more studies are showing that using maintenance therapy after a patient achieves a complete or very good partial response delays progression of multiple myeloma.

In this case, disease progression is the amount of time it takes for your multiple myeloma to return after it responds to treatment, also frequently called relapse. Maintenance therapy can be used following a stem cell transplant or after using novel therapies during the initial phase of treatment.

The jury is still out whether maintenance therapy can actually extend a patient's life, but delaying relapse is …

In November of 2008, my local physician referred me to specialists at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) for a diagnostic work-up, and it was there that his suspicions were confirmed. I, indeed, at 49 years old, had multiple myeloma. Whatever the heck that was!

My first order of business, after learning how to say ‘myeloma,’ was to seek qualified information and opinions from respected myeloma centers around the country, to interview knowledgeable physicians and oncology nurses, and to talk with every multiple myeloma patient I could get a hold …

Air travel can be challenging, especially with an ongoing health condition. Multiple myeloma is certainly no exception. Busy airports, long security lines, and packed planes can be frustrating or even bad for your health.

Here are a few things multiple myeloma patients can do to in preparation for flying:

1. Don’t forget your address book. It is important to have all of your medical contact info with you when you travel, including your doctors’ phone numbers and insurance information. You might consider creating a smaller, condensed satellite version for when you …

On Monday night, I attended a National Hockey League game here in Tampa, Florida. The Tampa Bay Lightning played the Dallas Stars at an event billed as “Hockey Fights Cancer Night.”

Modeled loosely after the National Football League's breast cancer awareness program—you know, the one that has all of the players wearing pink shoes and hats—this promotion wasn't as big a deal.

No pink skates or helmets to be found. There were a few public announcements and banners. Young girls did pass out pink ribbons to some of the fans entering the …