Last week I wrote about how taking nutritional supplements is like walking through a mine field for multiple myeloma patients.  So this week, I’ll describe my nutritional supplement plan.

First, let me describe the prescription medications that I take:

Revlimid (lenalidomide) is my monthly chemotherapy drug.

Warfarin (Coumadin) is a generic blood thinner. I use it to prevent blood clots that may be caused by Revlimid.

Oxycodone and Tylenol help my bone pain.

Gabapentin (Neurontin) helps my peripheral neuropathy symptoms.

My peripheral neuropathy (pain and tingling in the extremities) seems …

We all realize good nutrition is important. But like everyone else, multiple myeloma patients are often too busy to eat well all of the time.

And even if we do eat well, nutritional science teaches us there are advantages to additional supplementation.

No problem, right? Head off to the health food store and begin loading-up?

How about extract from exotic berries from the Amazon, touted to contain super concentrated anti-oxidants?

Or how about supplements designed to lesson the ongoing struggle many of us have with pain and tingling in …

A majority of multiple myeloma patients experience some kind of bone involvement. In other words, myeloma has negatively affected their bones. Lesions, a fancy word for holes, in and around the bone are common. So is a more general “osteoporosis”-like weakening of the bone.

Those of you who are fortunate enough not to have had multiple myeloma hurt your bones should take advantage of your good fortune by engaging in a systematic and rigorous exercise program.

I know, I know—who wants to exercise when they aren’t feeling well? Dex, chemo, bisphosphonate IV’s—YUCK! …

Just over four years ago, a very good friend of mine, named Gene, dropped by my real estate office on a Saturday morning.

My partner Bruce and I greeted Gene warmly. A fellow Realtor, Gene had committed to joining our real estate team later that year.

Unfortunately, we soon discovered Gene had not stopped in to talk shop. No, Gene was on his way home from seeing an oncologist. Gene had just learned he had prostate cancer.

To make matters worse, Gene shared with us that his cancer was advanced and …

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish all of my fellow multiple myeloma patients, their friends, families, and caregivers a happy Thanksgiving!

If you think about it, Thanksgiving is an ideal holiday. Rich or poor, young or old, healthy or sick with cancer, everyone has something to be thankful for. And it is a relatively non-denominational holiday.

But it isn't perfect. It is a difficult day to be alone. And yet large family gatherings can be overwhelming, stressful, or disappointing.

When I first sat down to write this column, I was …

“You have multiple myeloma.” I would guess you didn't even know what multiple myeloma was when you heard those fateful words some time ago.

But chances are, if you are reading this column, you moved past that uninformed point some time ago.

As a newly diagnosed patient, you go from knowing nothing about your cancer to being an expert in a matter of months. Continue along the learning curve I just described, and your understanding may exponentially expand to the point where you begin to understand and even use “myeloma speak.”

The …

One week ago, I celebrated an important milestone: I have survived 43 months with multiple myeloma.

What was so important about 43 months? That was the median life expectancy at the time I was diagnosed.

It is only human nature to immediately ask the question, “Doctor, how long do I have to live?” after you learn you have cancer.

My Mayo Clinic oncologist, Dr. Steven Zeldenrust, was forthright and honest with me when I asked him that question back in the spring of 2007.

Dr. Zeldenrust said that the average Stage II …