Back in the late fall, I started going to a yoga class one evening a week. I did it in part be­cause I thought it might do me some good and in part be­cause I have known the instructor since she was in high school and dated my younger son. Either reason, yoga was a whole new experience for me.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Let me clarify what kind of yoga class this is. This is not “hot yoga.” Or even “tepid yoga.” Our instructor calls it “relaxation yoga.” I call …

The alarm yanks me from my dreams and I rub my eyes to help them focus. It’s 5:15 a.m. and I need to get moving. I hate getting up this early, but the cancer center is an hour's drive away, even early on a Saturday, and my blood draw is at 7:00 a.m. I rationalize the early start knowing I want to get my treatment done and out of the way.

Even though I’m not awake enough to feel hungry, I grab a quick bowl of cereal so I can take my …

Since I wrote my last column, winter harshly arrived with a stretch of low tem­per­a­tures that were colder than those at the North Pole. We had a heavy snowfall, which brightened up the environment even as we shivered a lot outdoors. It warmed up again in the last week to above freezing during the day, but we are not finished with winter yet.

Because my path with multiple myeloma has not been straightforward, or even predictable, I thought I would share with you how my health is now.

In a nutshell: …

This is the time of year when we are looking for something. Perhaps you were one of the millions with your eyes fixed on a glimmering ball, counting down to the moment it would make its descent into our mortal space and start us off to a new year. Maybe you looked for victory as you cheered on your favorite team in a bowl game. Or, possibly you’re looking toward the Epiphany, to celebrate three Magi who followed a star in search of a newborn babe in a manger.

These last …

Although we would like to think of the winter holiday season as a jolly time, filled with good cheer, for some it is not such a happy stretch of time. For those who are sick, undergoing difficult medical treatment, or in hospital, or for those who have lost a loved one in the last year, this can actually be a sad time.

Even if a person is well, just coping with the low levels of sunlight in the north, in addition to the storms and cold weather that are common during this …

Something that has intrigued me since being diagnosed with myeloma myeloma is the rather odd things that some people say to me. I always think that their intentions must be good, but from time to time I have been upset and somewhat irritated by some comments.

One of the first such incidents I can remember is when, hearing of my mis­for­tune, someone asked me, “Have you tried green juices?” I was not really sure what to say; neither "yes" nor "no" seemed an adequate answer. I can­not remember what I said …

I recently spent a few days visiting a relative in the hospital. Fortunately, all is well for her, but observing intense medical care as the visitor for a change gave me time to think about what it means to be a “good patient.”

While considering this issue and subsequently writing this column, I learned that the notion of “good” or “bad” patients is the subject of some debate and schol­ar­ship in the medical community.

For instance, in a study of HIV patients (who are similar to multiple myeloma patients in their repeated …