It was an unseasonably cool summer morning back in July of 2010, and I had ventured out to get the early delivery from my mailbox up at the corner of the street in our small Missouri town.

When I stepped onto the surprisingly slick, dew-covered lawn, my legs shot out from under me, my arms flailed wildly, and my ball cap and glasses went flying helter-skelter. I landed on my back with a deafening thud which surely must have measured on somebody’s Richter scale somewhere.

Although I was probably quite the comical …

Although I was extremely busy with several on­going projects coming to a head, in­clud­ing decid­ing on a topic for this month’s Myeloma Beacon column, my pals insisted that I quit my ‘incessant belly­aching,’ drop every­thing, and go out and have some fun.

Sensitive, level-headed guys, my friends are.

Having no sympathy for my dilemma, they threatened to excommunicate me from the group if didn’t put away my ‘scribbling’, as they had jokingly called my writing through the years.

When it became obvious that I wasn’t moved by their hollow threats or their …

Having lived with multiple myeloma for several years now, my journey has come to a fairly quiet period. For this I am truly grateful. While I try NOT to think about the disease as often as possible, I have been largely un­suc­cess­ful in my attempts.

Such was the case just this last week:

Our plan was simple. After a challenging year and a typically hectic holiday, my family and I took a quick post-Christmas getaway trip to relax with relatives in the Chicago area before heading home to ring in the New …

As I first began the several rounds of chemotherapy for multiple myeloma back in December of 2008, I decided to help combat the effects of chemo brain by working on word and number puzzles and by scribbling my thoughts down into a journal.

Did it work? I don’t know, but it helped to keep my mind occupied and away from the encroaching sadness of fighting cancer far away from my home and my kids as the holidays approached.

One of the exercises that I enjoyed most was writing short forms of Japanese …

As I approach the seven-year anniversary of my Thanksgiving 2008 multiple myeloma diagnosis, I wanted to share a little bit about the results from my most recent myeloma check-up.

But first, I’d like to tell you about some of the quirky things that have recently happened:

It was not once, not twice, but four times in the span of two weeks that I’d been contacted by friends that I haven’t seen in years. Their common message was how sorry they were to learn that I was faring so poorly in my fight …

While basking in the afterglow of a recent gazillion-course United Methodist pot luck supper, one of my very favorite church ladies sauntered over and confided in me that one of her elderly friends back in Iowa had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma.

As we talked about how her friend was dealing with his formidable chal­lenges and I shared about the frustrations that I was facing, she caught me totally off guard when she said:

"You know, all in all, you should thank your lucky stars that you came down with myeloma when …

If you’ve been brave enough to spend your valuable time reading some of my prior Myeloma Beacon columns and you say to yourself ‘That guy isn’t right!,’ this column might just prove your point.

It occurred to me that in my busyness I haven’t properly thanked the many folks who’ve helped me during my multiple myeloma journey. If I actually had the discipline to write some thank you notes, the following is a sample of what they could look like:

Dear Brand New Phlebotomist,

After last week’s four painful …