This week I’d like to discuss two questions that patients often have: Is it OK to suggest a change in a treatment plan due to side effects, trends in numbers, or having learned about a better therapy regimen? If a patient’s doctor suggests a treatment option that they don’t really like, should the patient suggest another one?

The answer to both questions is YES!

Treating multiple myeloma is definitely a work in progress. There's no one right answer. Setting goals and having a treatment plan is important. But we also need to …

The days of a cancer patient blindly following the doctor's orders and rarely getting a second opinion are over. For multiple myeloma, there aren't just one or two standard treatment options.

Instead, you and your doctor will often face a choice of three or more treatment plans. Some physicians prefer certain approaches, so it’s important when you are first diagnosed to get an opinion from several different treatment centers and to select the one whose approach you are comfortable with.

Sometimes your treatment choices are limited by other underlying health issues—or by …

Last week I shared a list of questions all multiple myeloma patients should consider.

Let's cover the first question this week: “How carefully should a patient be tracking and following their numbers?”

There is no right or wrong answer here. What is important is you begin to understand which numbers are important. This varies from patient to patient.

Lab (blood work) reports can be overwhelming! Ask your nurse or doctor to point out the important numbers.

For example, creatinine levels help monitor kidney function. Multiple myeloma patients can be at risk for …

I had been experiencing mild, intermittent pain in my right hip and femur for months. About ten days ago, the pain became acute—so much so I could barely walk.

Although it has improved some since, my wife Pattie insisted I move up my scheduled quarterly visit to Moffitt Cancer Center and get it checked out. I'm so glad I did!

An examination and subsequent MRI showed probable myeloma-related activity in my hip and fluid in my hip joint that will probably require radiation.

To make matters worse, my M-spike (monoclonal protein level) …

It’s the second week in January. How many of you have already broken your New Year's resolutions?

That's the problem with resolutions. Losing weight and exercising more. Eating better. Trying not to smoke. These are all noble goals that are almost impossible to keep—to keep perfectly, that is.

Slip and fall off the wagon, and most of us get discouraged and give up.

But I look at goals and resolutions differently. I don't try to be perfect. Instead, I expect to take two steps forward and one step back. It’s a cumulative …

I believe the supplements I take help keep my body healthy and strong. But I don't take any supplements considered to have anti-myeloma properties.  Not that there are many of these.

Bioperine, a derivative of black pepper, is thought to help increase the absorption of nutritional supplements.  Used in combination with other anti-myeloma supplements, it may enhance anti-cancer effects.

Acetoxychavicol acetate, found in an edible plant in the ginger family that comes from Thailand, has been shown in pre-clinical studies from several years ago to have anti-myeloma properties.

Green tea is …

Based on comments on my first article about nutritional supplements that I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I was able to identify four important questions anyone should consider before deciding to take a nutritional supplement:

What benefits do you hope to achieve? Are the contents in the bottle what the label says they are? How much do they cost? Are there any risks to taking them?

All good questions. But I would like to stay focused on the first and last question: “What benefits do you hope to achieve?” and …