An altar is a place of transformation. It is typically a physical space where tokens, mementos, and sacred souvenirs are arranged. Aside from any religious meaning, the use of altars is found across cultures. An altar is simply a place to remember. My connection to multiple myeloma is like an internal altar. Mine is a storybook that began about ten years ago during the fall season.

This time of year, I seem to revisit the pages of my book more closely. Strangely, this is not a story I want to throw away. …

I recently had one of the vivid dreams I've tended to experience ever since being on chemotherapy for multiple myeloma.

I have so many different drugs flowing through me at any given time that I can't be sure which one causes the dreams.  Or perhaps they are due to some particular combination.  I was also fighting another sinus infection at the time, so the antibiotics, decongestants, and cough suppressants I was taking may also have been a factor.

Whatever the cause, it's not as relevant as the emotions evoked by the dream, …

I recently noticed that one of the most active discussions in the Myeloma Beacon forums is one about experiences with bone marrow biopsies. I haven’t read of anyone who really was neutral to having that procedure done.

Whether it’s done under local anesthetics or with the help of a sedative, it is somewhat dreaded because it helps diagnose, confirm and stage multiple myeloma. However, most of us patients consent to the procedure because of the information it can yield.

When I had an initial appointment with my oncologist to review the results …

It is now day 60 following my donor (allogeneic) stem cell transplant, and I wanted to give an update on how it has gone and what is in store.

As with an autologous (self) stem cell transplant, everyone talks about the first 100 days as the critical period. This is true even more so with the donor transplant.

As I mentioned in my last column about my transplant, the intensity of the treatment, the need for close monitoring, and the number of things that can go wrong seems much greater with …

Continuing my trend of writing from exotic locations (and I mean that a bit tongue-in-cheek), I am on Long Island today, mixing some business and some pleasure.  The best part of this trip is staying with Mom.  There is just nothing like time with Mom.

Mom was at my house two weeks ago, for the first time since my sister Deana was diagnosed with multiple myeloma.  This is my first visit to her house since late April 2011 as well.  These happenings, while seemingly minor, serve as reminders that we are thankfully …

It has been fourteen months since my autologous stem cell transplant.  Although I’m in remission (Thank God!), several challenging residual issues remain.

I can remember hearing from other transplant recipients in past years, bemoaning the fact that they still weren’t “back to normal” months or more after their stem cell transplants.  I didn’t pay much attention at the time.  But now I think I might understand how they felt.

Like those I have heard from in the past, I am still not fully recovered from my transplant.

I noticed it again last …

I have to admit that I am not exactly an expert on the science of multiple myeloma.

One area that I do have some expertise in, however, is what I have ‘felt’ during my intense, four-year battle royale waged between medical science, myeloma, and me.

As a natural born daydreamer, I recently imagined what it would be like if I could magically send a note back to the newly diagnosed Sean Murray of four years ago. Knowing that I was largely ignorant of multiple myeloma and grossly unaware of what was about …