There are 206 steps leading up to the street at the F-line subway stop I fre­quent­ly use in New York City. Nine or ten stories deep below the hustle and bustle of Manhattan. That’s one of the things I learned in the year since I started treat­ment for multiple myeloma.

Back on January 30, 2013 I walked up those steps on my way to my first chemo treatment, and I made a vow: I’m going to walk up all of these steps every time I come back, not wimp out and take …

Throughout 2013, multiple myeloma patients once again graciously shared their personal experiences related to myeloma in columns they wrote for The Beacon.

Last year, two new myeloma patients joined the ranks of Beacon col­um­nists.  Both are women, both were diagnosed with myeloma much before the average age (one when she was a new mother), and both are long-term survivors.

Over the past year, The Beacon columnists have written about their recent myeloma-related happenings, including recent lab results, changes to their current treatment regimen, and how they have been doing lately.

They have …

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life!”

“No kidding," I mutter under my breath every time I see that saying on a card or in an advertisement. It is such an obviously true statement, why does it have to be said? What makes it so profound?

For some reason, that saying came repeatedly to mind on Wednesday, October 30, 2013, as I took my first dose of dexamethasone (Decadron) at 6 a.m. and my first dose of Revlimid (lenalidomide) 12 hours later. And while I …

“Oops.”

It wasn’t until the radiology nurse finishing taping down the IV line she had just inserted in my arm that I remembered my husband Warren was sitting in the room with me.

I looked over at Warren. “Sorry.”

He shook his head. “It’s okay. I just looked away.”

My husband is not comfortable with medical procedures, to put it mildly. But there he was, sitting in the room with me while the nurse prepared me for a bone marrow biopsy.

This past January was the first time I’ve had a bone …

I have been on a long journey so far since my diagnosis with myeloma in 2009. Through all of my treatments and recovery from injuries, my family and friends have been at my side.

In particular, my husband Dilip has made it a top priority to help me. He is a true ‘care giver,’ not only in his work as a physician, but as my spouse and father to our two daughters. We have been married for 36 years, and the phrase from our wedding vows, ’in sickness and in health,’ …

I took off from writing my column in January while under­going treat­ment and try­ing to sort through other treatment options.

Since my donor (allogeneic) stem cell transplant in August 2012, my multiple myeloma had recurred again with aggressive extramedullary disease (myeloma outside of the blood and bone marrow).

This progression occurred despite several cycles of a regimen of Kyprolis (car­filzomib), Pomalyst (pomalidomide, Imnovid), cyclophosphamide (Cy­toxan), and dexamethasone (Decadron), leaving me in a very bad situ­a­tion.

Fortunately, my disease responded to a couple of cycles …

Myeloma is a heterogeneous disease.  I hear that phrase used often among multiple myeloma specialists.  But what does it mean?

It means that myeloma isn’t a single type of cancer.  It‘s a multifaceted demon, effecting each of us in surprising and unexpected ways.  Researchers now believe that there can even be several different types of myeloma in the same patient.  As you can imagine, this makes myeloma exceedingly difficult to treat; it’s hard to hit a moving target!

Sometimes myeloma affects our kidneys; sometimes our bones.  A large minority of patients remain …