I was recently talking with a friend about her child’s reading curriculum when I was reminded of a short story, The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien. It is set amongst a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War, and it chronicles the experiences of Lt. Jimmy Cross, their platoon leader. Through the story, he carries physical reminders of home with him, until one day he parts with them, knowing that he must do so in order to survive the war.

We all carry things with us every day that shape our world …

In my March column, I wrote about start­ing a new chapter in my multiple myeloma book – maintenance therapy.

I started out with 10 mg of Revlimid (lenalidomide) per day in a 21-day cycle, without dexa­metha­sone (Decadron). I very much welcomed the elimination of dexa­metha­sone, as I experienced wild mood swings and serious insomnia during induction therapy. The fact that the neurop­athy I suffered from Revlimid during in­duction therapy (15 mg per day, 21-day cycle) was toler­able made me opti­mistic that good things were in store for …

President Carter gave his “Crisis in Confidence” address to the United States in July, 1979. Two days after giving that speech, he stated that the nation had two problems, one of them being “malaise.”

“Malaise” came to be associated with that speech, although Carter never used the word in the actual address. There was an edi­torial cartoon I carried around for years after­wards. The panel showed a reporter coming upon Carter grilling dozens of hamburgers. When the reporter inquired why, Carter shouted “there’s mayonnaise all over the country!” and ran away with …

I find it fascinating that, in the almost three years since I was diagnosed with terminal multiple myeloma, I haven’t until recently begun to daydream seriously about what I would do if I were pronounced permanently cured today.

I’m not talking about remission, substantial clinical response, minimal residual disease, or any of the other “close-but-not-quite-there” phrases our doctors use, but simply “cured.”

I guess it has taken me this long to absorb my status as a cancer patient and to reach a level of comfort in my treatment to be able …

During a recent multiple myeloma check-up, I was relaxing on the sliding table of a PET scan machine undergoing – surprise surprise – a PET scan.

My oncologist had insisted that it was time for a scan, the clinic happened to have a machine available, and my insurance company was in such a good mood that they had agreed to cover the charges.

Far be it from me to argue, a-PET-scanning I did go!

While not quite as cheery as lounging on a sandy beach sipping tropical libations, my treatment center offers …

As you may remember from my November column, I had to re­start treat­ment last fall after my doctor and I had observed a rising trend in my mono­clonal (M) pro­tein and light chain levels over the pre­vious six months.

My doctor put me on 25 mg of Revlimid (lena­lido­mide) daily – a much higher dose than I had taken before – and 20 mg of dexa­metha­sone (Deca­dron) weekly in an effort to push the myeloma back down into another re­mission ... or some­thing close to that.

After being on ‘treatment …

I’m fond of saying, “I still have a number of myeloma ther­a­py op­tions, but none of them are good.” The last part is a re­flec­tion of in­vesti­ga­tional work I’ve done speaking with a number of myeloma experts I know.

For two months, I’ve promised to share which direction my lovely wife, Pattie, and I have decided to go in terms of my next treat­ment. After six months of pros and cons lists, con­ver­sa­tions with readers, family, friends, and other myeloma sur­vivors, we’ve made a decision. We were em­bold­ened after shift­ing through piles of therapy and …