I just returned from speaking to a blood cancer support group in Atlanta. The patients, survivors, and caregivers in attendance were amazing–kind, caring, and self aware. Why were they there? The food? The companionship? To learn more about their cancer and hear me speak? Yes! They came for all those reasons and more.

The bottom line: Everyone felt better after they left (including me) than they did before the meeting started. I left tonight’s meeting with a bounce in my step.

It had been a long day of…

Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is a common side effect of a number of chemotherapy drugs used to treat multiple myeloma. Symptoms range from tingling or numbness of the toes, fingers, feet, hands, or legs, to severe pain—and everything in between.

Like many multiple myeloma patients, I suffer from PN. Some of it began even before I began treatment, most likely caused by nerve compression in and around my damaged vertebrae. Once I began treatment, it rapidly got worse.

My hands became so unsteady it was (and still is) difficult for me…

Multiple myeloma is an unusual type of cancer. With some cancers, the end comes quickly. Others are easily cured. Multiple myeloma patients are stuck in the middle. Multiple myeloma is the ultimate shade of gray. Multiple myeloma doesn’t knock you out—it wears you down!

My wife, Pattie, was forced to endure major surgery following her cervical and uterine cancer diagnosis at the young age of 34. Six years later, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. That meant another surgery and six grueling months of chemotherapy.

But there was always a…

My name is Pat Killingsworth. I am a brother, a husband and a writer. I am also a multiple myeloma patient.

Over the past few years I have become a big fan of the Myeloma Beacon! The Beacon site is more than a blog—it is a comprehensive on-line resource for myeloma patients and caregivers.

After some discussion about a number of ways in which I could contribute to the site, the Beacon staff suggested I could write a weekly column about multiple myeloma from a patient’s perspective.

I responded: “Yes!…