I learned this week that my post-stem cell transplant consolidation therapy is continuing to work.  But the side effects are becoming less predictable.

My monoclonal protein number — also known as M-spike — has been dropping ever since I began consolidation therapy with Revlimid (lenalidomide), Velcade (bortezomib), and dexamethasone (Decadron), commonly abbreviated as RVD.  After two 6-week treatment cycles, my numbers are back to where they were just before my autologous stem cell transplant.

As many of you know, my M-spike was 0.2 prior to undergoing a stem cell …

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 …

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 …

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 …

As I prepared to write my weekly column, I must admit my mind drew a blank!  Why?  Sheer exhaustion, I think.

As most of you know, I underwent an autologous stem cell transplant this summer. Two weeks ago, I shared how the transplant had actually made my multiple myeloma worse.

Earlier this week, I learned that surgery will be required to remove an area of melanoma on my left ear.  That’s right — melanoma — as in skin cancer.

I need a vacation!

Instead, I’m heading out to attend and speak at …

I started my Velcade (bortezomib) / dexamethasone (Decadron) infusions again last week after recovering for four months from a stem cell transplant that I received this summer.

The infusion process got me thinking about ways I have learned to cope with getting “stuck” for IVs over the years.

Sure, I’m a lot tougher now than when I started treatment for my multiple myeloma almost five years ago.

Even so, it isn’t any fun sitting still while a nurse digs around in your arm, trying to start an IV and looking …

One week ago, I learned that the autologous stem cell transplant I endured this summer at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, has most likely failed.

What do I mean by “failed?”  I entered the hospital with a monoclonal protein (M-spike) reading of 0.2.  There was also no trace of myeloma in my bone marrow.  Now--100 days later--my M-spike is an alarming 0.5.

My wife Pattie and my doctors were stunned.  What percentage of auto transplant patients with extremely low tumor burdens like mine have higher M-protein levels 100 days post-transplant than …