Last week, I had the pleasure of taking a quick jaunt from my home in the rural Ozarks of southwest Missouri to the big city of San Francisco.

As an enthusiastic traveler before my diagnosis of multiple myeloma, I had always enjoyed venturing out to far locales by rail, sail, wing, or wandering highway.

Having flown several times since my furious tango with myeloma began in November of 2008, I know well the importance of heeding my doctor’s (and my wife’s) admonition to be ‘extra careful’ during the excursions.

The outbound portion …