As many of you may remember, I re-started treatment with Revlimid (lena­lido­mide) and dexa­metha­sone (Decadron) a year and a half ago because I relapsed.

Luckily, I’m responding well to the treatment. My M-spike has decreased to an almost undetectable level, and my light chains are in the normal range.

However, the treatment leaves me somewhat immuno­com­pro­mised, which means that I am at an increased risk of infection. I have noticed, for example, that I frequently pick up respiratory infections when traveling by air.

My goal, of course, is to stay healthy, …

I have always watched my "numbers," such as blood counts and M-spike values, since having been diagnosed with multiple myeloma.

Here are some different kinds of numbers that come to mind when I reflect upon my seven-year journey:

10 SYLLABLES – When I started battling multiple myeloma in 2008, I felt like I was a David living in a Goliath’s world. My foe was a big, hairy beast of a cancer, and it was obvious that I couldn’t best him on my own. Fortu­nately, I found some people who were experts at gathering …

The house is quiet, rain is steadily pouring outside, and I’m on my third cup of coffee, but the words aren’t coming easily this month. The truth is, I have a confession to make, and like any other confession, it’s hard to begin.

But, here goes: I haven’t been a very good caregiver lately.

It took me awhile to come to this realization. You see, I strive to be a great caregiver to my husband, Daniel. We’ve been in our roles for a while now, so I thought that I had this …

The world may not be ready for the 500th column on the joys of dexa­meth­a­sone (Decadron), but today is a dex day for me, so here it goes anyway.

I have a fair bit of experience with the corticosteroid dex, starting with my myeloma diagnosis back in 2006. My initial treatment consisted of thalido­mide (Thalomid) and dex, and I was on the two drugs for about eight months. This combination did well, getting me into complete re­mission before my autologous stem cell transplant. I had the then-current dosage of 40 …

The infusion regimen I follow for Kyprolis (carfilzomib) is two con­secu­tive days a week, three con­secu­tive weeks in a round, rest one week, repeat. Each session lasts two hours, more or less, so in any com­plete round of treatment I spend 12 or more hours of en­forced down­time, sitting in a chair while chemicals drip into my body.

What to do, what to do?

I don’t carry a tablet. I don’t have a smart phone, just a way retro flip phone from which I text only. I don’t knit, crochet, …

A national news magazine recently had a cover story about potential new cancer immunotherapies. The article also includes a discussion about clinical trials. While I found the article informative, I thought that it focused too much on the cost and exclusiveness of clinical trials and the fact that such trials are not available to most cancer patients.

What gave me the most food for thought from this article was the opening sen­tence: "Dates are important to a person who knows he is dying from cancer." The article suggests that dates from such …

As I mentioned in one of my previous columns, my husband and I like to travel, and we have continued to do so, at different levels, despite my multiple myeloma diagnosis.

As you can imagine, travel was easier when I was in remission. However, we nevertheless traveled when I relapsed and started treatment with Revlimid (lenalidomide) and dexamethasone (Decadron) in the fall of 2014. I just took extra precautions when we went to Hawaii a couple of months later.

I am still on medication and I still go places. In March, we …