When most people see the phrase “The Three R's,” they automatically think of Reading, 'Riting (writing), and 'Rithmetic (arithmetic), the foun­da­tions of a basic skills-oriented education. Or, for those who are envi­ron­men­tally con­scious, the association might be Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

At this stage in my life, my Three R's consist of Retirement, Remission, and Revlimid.

One might ask, what does retirement have to do with living with multiple myeloma?

For me, everything.

It was multiple myeloma that led me to retire at the end of last year at the young age …

Thanks to Facebook, I have the perfect phrase to describe the current status of my health and my myeloma.

“It’s complicated.”

For the non-Facebook users out there, one of the (many) bits of personal information you can share with your Facebook crowds is the vagaries of your love life. Married, Engaged, In a relationship, In a domestic part­ner­ship, and other phrases are all choices in your personal profile.

And so is “It’s complicated.”

Boy, is it ever.

Right around the time you will be reading this column, I will be back at …

Late last month, my husband Dilip and I went to the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra along with our older daughter and her husband. On the pro­gram were Sibelius’s powerful Violin Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, the "Pathétique."

All the music was wonderfully played, but I was particularly moved by the "Pathétique," Tchaikovsky’s last work as a musician and composer. He died only nine days after the premiere performance.

It was the fourth part, with its sombre tones and low strings vibrating throughout the hall, that seemed to have foreshadowed the end of the …

Although I was extremely busy with several on­going projects coming to a head, in­clud­ing decid­ing on a topic for this month’s Myeloma Beacon column, my pals insisted that I quit my ‘incessant belly­aching,’ drop every­thing, and go out and have some fun.

Sensitive, level-headed guys, my friends are.

Having no sympathy for my dilemma, they threatened to excommunicate me from the group if didn’t put away my ‘scribbling’, as they had jokingly called my writing through the years.

When it became obvious that I wasn’t moved by their hollow threats or their …

February is an auspicious month for me. On February 9, 2016, I will celebrate five years of life after my autologous stem cell transplant.

When I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, I was scared. In fact, my oncologist recently told me that he thought I would live for four years after my diagnosis. My type of multiple myeloma is considered high risk because of the chromosomal abnormalities my myeloma cells have (del(17p) and t(4;14)). Only five months after my initial diagnosis, I received a stem cell transplant.

Five years later, I am very …

From the minute a person is diag­nosed with multiple myeloma, he or she is faced with a never-ending series of decisions. Because there are so many ways to approach treat­ment of the disease, and no consensus among experts on what approach to use, at the end of the day we must make these decisions for our­selves.

As myeloma research advances with the develop­ment of new drugs, new treat­ment combi­na­tions, and new studies on the efficacy of trans­planta­tion, these decisions become even more diffi­cult. After all, when the choices are limited, it’s easier …

I have some wonderful news to share. My last PET scan showed no active myeloma anywhere. None in my existing lesions, and the extramedullary tumor in my groin is gone. No new lesions.

Given that I’ve become a nonsecretor over time, tests on my blood and urine don’t help much in tracking my myeloma. My light chains are in the normal range, whether my myeloma is active or not. Only a PET scan and bone marrow biopsy can help my myeloma specialist follow along.

At 100 days post transplant, my weight is …