I recently watched a video talk by social work research professor Brené Brown about her study of “the power of vulnerability.” It turns out that people who are most fulfilled approach their lives with “wholeheartedness.” The courage to be imperfect and admit vulnerability leads to greater wellbeing.

Living with multiple myeloma is an excellent place to experience vulnerability, as being diagnosed with this disease puts a damper on any sort of idealized self-image — the idea of “perfect health.”

There is a poster of the skeletal system on my wall,…

In my last column, I described how a couple of incidents, one on the subway and one at work, during the first few months of steroid and Revlimid (lenalidomide) treatment had given me hints that more than physical effects were going to be involved in my multiple myeloma treatments.

After five months on chemotherapy, it seemed that, while my medicines were apparently going to control the myeloma – I was approaching “very good partial response” – I could tell that the chemotherapy was having profound effects on me emotionally.  …

Say, how’s your brain working these days?

That’s a question for many cancer patients and survivors, but it is particularly one for those multiple myeloma patients who have had at least one stem cell transplant.

Getting a stem cell transplant is pretty intense.

First you start treatment with a cancer drug regimen, or radiation, to reduce the level of myeloma cells in your body and to get your myeloma into the best remission that can be accomplished.

Then you take drugs to make your bone marrow produce more stem cells…

In keeping with my “war-against-cancer” theme, I thought I’d touch on the topic of unsung heroes this month.

I had originally planned a different topic for this month’s column, but after reading Nancy D’s comment regarding not having a strong support group (in a reply to Nancy S’s recent column), I began reflecting on the people that support me.

Every war has its unsung heroes, those individuals that work behind the lines making sure the war runs smoothly but rarely getting the attention that those actually fighting the battle get.…

My last column sparked some interesting discussion about the balance between treating multiple myeloma aggressively enough to be effective, while minimizing side effects and maximizing quality of life.

This balance has many facets to it.

Everything in medicine comes down to a risk-benefit question.  How much risk is there to a treatment, and what is the expected benefit?

Sounds simple enough.  The problem is that the answer is not always clear, especially for any one individual.

Multiple myeloma is a disease with lots of choices and lots of treatment options. …