It seems as if in recent years I've spent a lot of my life waiting. It began before I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and it has continued ever since. I would imagine that this is the sort of waiting that is familiar to many readers of The Myeloma Beacon.

I remember pre-diagnosis, when I felt ill all the time, I was waiting and waiting for some doctor to work out what was wrong with me and help me to get out of the terrible pain I was suffering from.

Then, once I …

The dictionary defines ‘perfectionism’ as the refusal to accept any standard short of perfection.

So what would the meaning of perfectionism be in the case of someone with multiple myeloma?

I think that one aspect of perfectionism in multiple myeloma could be a desire to be in a stringent complete response – that is, not having any blood test or bone marrow biopsy results that would indicate the presence of multiple myeloma.

This is an admirable goal, but is it achievable for everyone?

I think not. There is a range of …

In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the first of the Oz series, any traveler to the Emerald City must put on a pair of green spectacles, which are then locked in place. These are required to shade one’s eyes from the brilliant green glow.

In Cancerland, the color of the glasses is rose.

After a holiday from treatment of almost two months – longer than my myeloma specialist wanted, but shorter than Tim, my primary oncologist, wanted – I resumed treatment in mid July.

My new treatment regimen is Darzalex (daratumumab). The pre­scribed …

Happy Birthday to me!

On July 22, 2016, the medical team at my transplant center infused my own stem cells back into my body. Only two days before, I received a massive and otherwise deadly dose of the chemotherapy drug melphalan. This was day one of my recovery from that treatment and, hopefully, an end to the myeloma cells that invaded my body.

I’m pleased to announce on this anniversary that all reports are positive.

It amazes me that it’s been a year since my autologous stem cell transplant. I can truly …

It’s late, and I’m working on my column. My husband, Daniel, has just retired to bed, so I step away to perform my ritual “security sweep.”

I check the locks and the deadbolts on the doors. I turn on the security alarm, check the exterior flood lights, and turn off extraneous indoor lights. I think to myself, “How can he sleep like a rock behind an unlocked door? I can’t even type another word in my column, much less go to sleep!” 

I’m hard-wired that way; I’ve always felt the need …

In mid-July, I went hiking with my husband and a visiting cousin from Los Angeles. We decided to hike to Parker Ridge, in Banff National Park, even though it is a 187-mile (300 km) drive from Calgary. We hadn't hiked this path since 2008, when we were driving from Jasper National Park to Calgary, along with my mother.

There were several reasons why it had taken us so long to return after a nine-year gap, apart from the distance from home. Last year was bad for bears on the trails, and …

“If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changing.”

With these lyrics to his well-known song, “The Times They Are A-Changin,” Bob Dylan spoke about the unrest of the 1960’s. The tune, first released in 1964, is still a useful way to talk about my life today.

You see, no matter how hard I try, life keeps changing.

Change is just part of life. We do not have control of much of the …