I try to make a point about not talking in my column too much about whatever symptom, side effect, or malady is affecting me at any particular time.

But suffice it to say that lately there has been a lot going on with me, and it has brought to the forefront that inevitable discussion about what to do next should my current treatment regimen of Revlimid (lenalidomide) and dexamethasone (Decadron) start to fail.

I’ve discussed this prospect at…

I wish my doctors talked with each other.

Not all of them, just the main ones:  My two oncologists, my primary care physician, and my nephrologist.  Those are the doctors that I see regularly.

Sometimes they send each other their notes from my most recent visit, although I’m not sure this happens efficiently all the time.  On top of that, I suspect that these office visit notes don’t get read until I pop up in the queue for an appointment…

Since I got my myeloma diagnosis five and a half years ago, I haven’t been given to bouts of depression.

With a myeloma diagnosis, you really don’t have time to feel sorry for yourself.

I’ve tried to take in stride all the things “they” have done to me – two autologus stem cell transplants, a myriad of chemotherapy side effects, an open lung biopsy, and endless needle sticks, just to name a few.

Then there’s the prodding, probing, and testing…

I think I am a believer in “The Force.”  No, let’s say that I do believe in it.

So that raises the question: What the heck is it?

The traditional thinking is that there’s an energy force that you can tap, consciously or perhaps not, that can help you fight the “bad things” that are affecting you personally.  Maybe even to completely resist them.

Some people might refer to this as “force of will,” which I think is also a…

I recently read an article in the Kansas City Star that looked at how cancer patients are treated by others, and how we are looked upon by our society in general.

Overall, I thought the sense of the article was quite negative, but maybe not far off the mark.

It reminded me, too, that I don’t really want others to think of me first off as a cancer patient.

A couple of years ago, for example, I was speaking…