For a little over two years now, I have been a staff mediator at our local Juvenile Court.

Our court established a mediation department over a decade ago to try a dif­fer­ent approach to settling cases. Most of them involve unmarried parents trying to resolve custody and visitation issues. My role is to help the parties com­muni­cate with one another and try to reach agreement on arrangements that are best for the children.

I am not a judge or magistrate; I have no authority to order anyone to agree to anything. Much …

In this new age of the Internet and the ability to communicate online with others anywhere using a personal computer, many people turn to ‘cyberspace’ to find information, to find new contacts, and to ask medical questions.

Consider that ‘surfing the net’ is not strenuous at all and is available to most myeloma patients, even if they have been injured, are in the hospital, or are resting at home. There is an international aspect to it also, which gives us the unique opportunity to compare and contrast treatments and attitudes towards myeloma …

A couple of months ago, I wrote a column about how my multiple myeloma treatments over the last couple of years have made any kind of planning ahead almost impossible. For better or for worse, my treatments have forced me to truly live life one day at a time.

There is a corollary to the “one day at a time” mantra. Lately, I have been “waiting for the next shoe to drop.”

I am now 10 months out from my unrelated donor (allogeneic) stem cell trans­plant, and it has been a …

At this time last month, I was preparing to undergo hip replacement surgery.  One month later, I’m pleased to report that the surgery was an awesome success!

I went home two days after my surgery, two days ahead of schedule.  I was walking without a cane in five days and without a limp in ten. And although I still get a bit sore after walking up a long flight of stairs or working out, the pain is far less than it was before I went under the knife.

At my post-op check-up, …

As I entered the waiting room at the Bone Marrow Biopsy clinic and plunked myself down in the only available chair, the animated conversation was soon directed at me.

The woman apparently leading the discussion peered at me over the reading half-glasses perched on her nose, leaned forward, and brusquely uttered:

“Answer this for us. Can a person be ‘happy’ with multiple myeloma? Well?”

The now silent strangers looked my way as the ceiling lights seemed to grow hotter and brighter and focused more intensely on my seat alone.

It was a …

Hi. My name is Karen. I’m a myeloma patient, and this is my first column here at The Myeloma Beacon.

I’ve been a regular visitor to this site for a long time, and I’ve always enjoyed reading the columns written by other myeloma patients. I decided to share my own story when I realized I’ve become a myeloma old-timer.

I was diagnosed over seven years ago, when I was only 30 years old. So, I’m a myeloma youngster and an old-timer at the same time. At the time I was diagnosed, I …

One of the advantages of living in the U.S. north­east is the chance to ex­peri­ence the change of the seasons. This year, the arrival of spring coin­cided with a new medical regimen for me and what has seemed like a rebirth of my own life.

As I described in my April column, this past win­ter was the season of my dis­content. In less than three months, I experienced two bouts of pneu­monia. I was at the hospital at least once a week, and I had near constant gastric distress. I tried …