Let me start out by saying that this is a “dex day” for me, so I’m writing this in the middle of the night.

As we’ve reduced my dose of dexamethasone (Decadron) over time, I don’t awake as early in the night as I used to.  Also, in earlier times, the dex would wake me up, and bing! – I’d be fully awake.  Instantly.

That’s not so any more.  Nowadays, with the lower dose, I’m still tired when the dex brings me out of sleep mode.  I’m awake with virtually no …

In mid-August 2009, I received the diagnosis that I had been dreading and hoping against hope was not true: multiple myeloma.  I realized later that if my diagnosis had been put off much longer, I could have been much worse off, but at the time, it was still very upsetting. 

My husband Dilip and I started to digest a whole lot of information about multiple myeloma.  I felt like I was in a crash course of cancer education; we went through pamphlets provided at the cancer center, textbooks on cancer, books on …

On Good Friday, I reflected on just how far my sister and my entire family have come since this day last year.

In 2011, Deana’s day began with a call from her doctor’s office, alerting her to the need to get to the hospital for three units of blood.  Her blood work from the day before showed a hemoglobin level of 6 g/dL.

When I heard how low Deana’s hemoglobin level was, I knew it wasn’t good.  However, it took some time for me to realize just how fortunate we were that …

This week marks an important milestone along my multiple myeloma journey. It has now been five years since I was first diagnosed.

Five years! Not bad, considering the median life expectancy at the time was less than four.

But that only sets the stage for the topic of my column this month.

Several days ago, a “myeloma friend” and I got together to watch a spring training baseball game. What a beautiful setting along Florida's Gulf Coast! The Toronto Blue Jays were playing the Minnesota Twins. We had great seats just behind …

I have had the honor of visiting with several cancer survivor and patient groups (mostly multiple myeloma-focused groups) since my treatment for myeloma began in December of 2008. Though the groups have been created for rather sobering reasons, I have found them to be warm and inviting and sources of valuable information.

While I am always happy to recount my own ongoing myeloma experiences, one of my very favorite aspects of these get-togethers is to hear the vastly unique stories that come from the group’s members. Their personal insights have provided me …

The month of March has been a special one in my part of the country due to the unexpected record-breaking warm temperatures. This is also my birthday month during the year I turn sixty, now fondly referred to as my “sea of sixty.”

Facing the uncharted waters of multiple myeloma at age fifty-one left me unable to visualize this far-off decade. Looking ahead required imagining too many unknowns.

Two weeks ago when I brushed snow from my windshield, I also was not imagining a picnic by Lake Erie under eighty-degree sun on …

My dog, Kodi, died suddenly the other day.  He was 15 years old.

I know, you’re asking, what does that have to do with multiple myeloma?

Let me try to explain.

When I was diagnosed in 2006, and by the time I ended up at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, I was in really bad shape.  Or so they tell me.  So much so, that I’m told that I’m fortunate to be alive today.

When I found myself unexpectedly admitted to the hospital for about two weeks while they slowly pulled me back …