Monday was a big day for me.

After undergoing 36 consecutive weeks of Revlimid, Velcade, and dexamethasone therapy since my stem cell transplant, I was hoping that Monday would be the day I could officially begin my easier-to-tolerate maintenance regimen.

Combination therapy with Revlimid (lenalidomide), Velcade (bortezomib), and dexamethasone (Decadron), known as RVD, had been tough for me to take over the last few months.  My platelet and white blood cell counts had been low and continued to edge down.  I was sore and out-of-sorts.  My body was screaming …

After writing with a broad brush about caregivers from a patient’s perspective last month, I promised to “think back and dig deep to remember how I felt and coped when I wore a caregiver’s hat” while I watched over and tried to help my lovely wife, Pattie, while she battled her cancer.

Being cared-for by my wife – and having taken care of her while she battled three different cancers for over six years – I have a somewhat unique perspective on caregiving.

I also interact with other patients and caregivers …

Do you remember reading about or watching the video of Randy Pausch a few years back?  He’s the dynamic Carnegie Mellon professor who became famous after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer — and then gave an incredible lecture, “The Last Lecture,” about his impending death.  A video of his talk went viral — before viral was even cool.

Randy lived and died with such grace that it is easy to forget that he had a wife and caregiver, Jai, who stood by his side until the very end.

Like most …

When we were kids, I bet almost no one ever said, “I want to be an oncology nurse when I grow up!”

All nurses are important.  But oncology nurses are special.  To spend four or five days a week doing hands-on work with cancer patients can be a thankless job.  Sure, there are lots of victories these days – patients are living longer than ever after receiving treatment for most cancers.   But losing patients who have invariably become friends can’t be easy.

Most of the oncology nurses that I have gotten to …

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 find myself frequently advising multiple myeloma patients to “get a second opinion from a myeloma specialist before making a major therapy decision.”

You might ask, “Why should I bother to get a second opinion?”

My response is: why not get a second opinion from a myeloma specialist?

But I hear plenty of reasons and excuses.

“There isn't a major cancer center near me.”

“I like and trust my doctor, so why not just do what he or she says?”

“My insurance won't pay for a second opinion out of my area.” …

Over the past month, I have once again experienced a wide variety of multiple myeloma-related events that I have heard about over the years.

One thing is for sure:  I don’t recover from sicknesses nearly as well as I used to before my autologous stem cell transplant in July.

Three weeks ago I experienced the worst cold I have had in a decade.  I was able to fight it off in a week or so, but then I was hospitalized this weekend with neutropenia (low white blood cell counts) and a fever of …