I have experienced a lot medically since my previous column.  Some of the news is good.  But there have also been a few hiccups along the way …

Let’s focus on the good news first. 

As hoped, the combination of Revlimid (lenalidomide), Velcade (bortezomib) and dexamethasone (Decadron), commonly abbreviated RVD, that I started six weeks ago is working.

My monoclonal protein number - or M-spike - has been cut in half from 0.6 to 0.3.

This is especially important in my case since I have a history of …

I noticed winter holiday decorations in the stores the day after Halloween. There is no way of escaping the presence of commercial seasonal promotions.

Yet this time of year still triggers memory and reflection.

I recall struggling to a Thanksgiving dinner a few years back with symptoms of stage IV multiple myeloma before I knew I had a disease with a name.

I had been unwell for months and clueless about my condition. It took another two weeks before I would be diagnosed. What a relief to finally name my …

In this week of Thanksgiving, I am grateful for many things, including the opportunity to share my family’s myeloma journey with you and the relationships that have grown as a result.  

While I am still not thankful for the myeloma diagnosis, the last seven months have been filled with blessings.  It is generally not my style to repeat words over and over in my writing, but for this week, please bear with me, because there’s going to be a whole lotta thankful going on.

On Monday, November 14, we were blessed with …

A while back I reported how my compromised immune system, reacting to years of chemotherapy, had allowed melanoma (skin cancer) to develop on my left ear. The melanoma was surgically removed on Monday.

But this week’s column isn’t about that.  The surgery went well — although my surgeon did need to remove a larger part of my ear than he originally anticipated.

No, this week’s column is about waiting.

Let me set the scene for you.  I’m lying in pre-op, meeting with an anesthesiologist about my upcoming procedure. 

But I’m not focusing …

Since I got my myeloma diagnosis five and a half years ago, I haven’t been given to bouts of depression.

With a myeloma diagnosis, you really don’t have time to feel sorry for yourself.

I’ve tried to take in stride all the things “they” have done to me – two autologus stem cell transplants, a myriad of chemotherapy side effects, an open lung biopsy, and endless needle sticks, just to name a few.

Then there’s the prodding, probing, and testing by various doctors and specialist of all kinds.  There were spur-of-the-moment ultrasounds …

I, like probably many multiple myeloma survivors, experience peripheral neuropathy.

Peripheral neuropathy is a condition that is a result of nerve damage. It is commonly found in diabetes patients and older people, as well as those of us with multiple myeloma.

Symptoms include numbness in the hands and feet, loss of balance, trouble writing, opening jars, trouble with buttons or zippers, and/or pain in various parts of the body.

Sometimes people who suffer from peripheral neuropathy experience something best described as “stingers”--shooting nerve pain which can race up and down their body …

Ever since I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma five and a half years ago, hardly a day goes by when I don’t read some breathtaking headline about the promise of “personalized medicine” in the treatment of cancer.

News article after news article declares that breakthroughs in unlocking cancer's genetic code will lead to new, highly individualized, highly effective treatments.

Sounds great.  How could it not make your heart race a little faster knowing a cure is right around the corner?

Yet, when I go to talk to my doctor, none of this …