As multiple myeloma patients, we rapidly become familiar with many concepts from probability and statistics. There are measures such as the probability of a given treatment leading to a complete response, the probability of that treatment producing undesirable side effects, and of course numbers like median progression-free survival and median overall survival.

It can sometimes be difficult to remember that statistical measures such as these usually only apply to an entire population, not to any single indi­vidual. They are therefore useful for drawing general conclusions, but not for predicting the out­come that …

It’s one of the greatest opening lines ever penned. From his novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens tells us, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …” Set in London and Paris during the French Revolution, Dickens uses the differences between the two cities to paint contrasting portraits of life in extraor­di­nary times.

Through his characters’ experiences of fortune and misfortune, good and evil, life and death, destruction and resurrection, the reader comes to understand the world through dichotomy, or by seemingly opposite things. Through this …

Since retiring from my job as a school superintendent nearly six months ago, I have made a concerted effort to not allow what time I have left in life to be pre­occupied with the fact that I have multiple myeloma. In other words, I try not be defined by the disease.

Little did I realize how difficult that would be.

Because my life would be less structured with much more free time during retirement, I was concerned that the challenges of living with multiple myeloma would dominate my thinking even more than …

“You’ll be an N of 1,” said Tim, my oncologist.

I winced inside. My oncologist had no way of knowing it, but he had inadvertently evoked a Beacon column written by Arnie Goodman, who died in 2014.

Arnie Goodman was a favorite of mine because he didn’t mince words about his condition, which grew increasingly dire. In his column, “N of 1,” Arnie explained that he and his oncologist were trying a new drug, Empliciti (elotuzumab), in combination with Revlimid and dexamethasone to see if …

I am a planner.

I make my living crafting plans for long and complex projects with multiple unfolding and changing factors, and I really enjoy it. My clients say that I am pretty good at it.

I make all the plans for our family vacations. I can easily become obsessed for hours with comparing airline schedules versus prices versus available seats versus the quality of the airline. I can spend days comparing the smallest details of myriad vacation rental options.

I plan our family’s financial outlays and investments. I plan our …

As early summer is upon us here in the north, the wildflowers are in bloom, and the Canada geese and their goslings walk proudly along the Bow River. In our home garden, many lilac shrubs are in full bloom, and a hawthorn tree is flow­er­ing. Soon we will have mock orange and saskatoon shrubs in bloom too. I think that June is the most beautiful month here.

As the days are getting longer, it is great to be outdoors every day for some time. My husband and I frequently walk along the …

I recently watched the heart-shaped leaves of my backyard redbud tree flutter in the stiff breeze as the last few remaining pink blossoms floated to the grass below.

For two decades I have witnessed this quiet springtime rite of passage when the tiny buds turn into beautiful flowers and eventually fall to the earth a couple of weeks later.

The only time I missed the annual ‘redbud show’ was in early 2009 while I was away from home for ten months being treated for multiple myeloma.

My wife and I moved …