Living with Multiple Myeloma

My once strong, fun and beautiful mother sits up in her peach nightgown and declares "I think that the best years of my life were at the lake."  My parents came home one 1980 s weekend and announced that they had purchased a house on a lake near Middlebury, VT.  I grew up in a town with a beach and I did not understand the value of a lake.   This house was a wonderfully exciting way to learn.  It was an annex to an inn, so it had six bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms overlooking the biggest lake within Vermont's borders.  We each had our own rooms and when we walked into that house all of the stress generated by city life evaporated.    The centerpiece of the lake, that looks and feels very much like Lake Como to me, is Neshobe Island, the summer camp of the literati of the 1920s Algonquin Round Table.  Rumors of Dorothy Parker,  Robert Benchley, George S. Kaufman, and Edna Ferber running naked on the island made adults laugh and children...

It is Chemo Tuesday.  I'm back at the place where I remember I have Myeloma but I am lucky to come in on my own two feet, with all of my hair intact.  This is about the many divides in this country. It causes such profound stress that it may compromise my health.  This is why I am writing about this here. If you are surprised about any of this, you will not want to read what I have to say.  Stop now. I called in to my Congressman's Town Hall last night.  He was eloquent and for an hour there was a verbal tennis match of educated Fairfield County patriots expressing wonder and frustration and the Congressman's lobbed back measured and thoughtful responses.   Of discussion was the $880 m that the richest man in the world was trying to cut from Medicaid;  money that kept poor and sick people able to go to the doctor despite the dearth of tips earned at Starbucks.   Discussion of the shocking, pathetic minor league interaction on Signal. Hon...

I am a sensitive person, physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically.  I can feel a 1 degree change in indoor temperature. I don't wear clothes with tags.   No wool.  Ever.  I am allergic to virtually all animals, foods, trees, grasses, dusts, scents, etc.  Always have been. When I was younger, I would feel things in my body, Google them, make an appointment with a doctor, spend a sleepless night planning my end of life,  then learn from my doctor that I did not have any serious affliction.  Beginning in November 2021, everything changed.  Since then, most everything I fear actually warrants fear.  The pain in my back is dreadful but at least it's not cancer.   It's cancer.  The type of Myeloma I have can't be high risk.  It's high risk.  At least I'm not neutropenic.  Of course I am. Hypogammaglobulenemia? Yes. At least I don't have Osteo Necrosis of the Jaw.   You don't need to be a student of Latin...

Hello beautiful people.   I have had the privilege of coaching many lovely individuals with Myeloma.  I learn so much from them.   And thank the universe for Grace from the MMRF who is the ultimate guardian angel for those of us with incurable cancer diagnoses.   I just set up an email that matches this blogspot so that I can keep my Myeloma related emails separate and I will be able to access them more quickly.   If you would ever like to communicate, please don't be shy, I am so grateful for emails.    My new email is healingmyeloma@gmail.com.  Write me.   I hope that the sun is shining where you are. 💜  PRESS THE SMALL WHITE ARROW AT THE TOP LEFT OF THE PAGE FOR THE NEXT BLOG POST.     

Nutrivention is (finally) an acknowledgement by the medical community that food is an important medicine.  The medical use of food is a means of healing sick and other patients.  'Other' would be patients who don't ever want to be sick and/or who want to live forever.  Please Google Dr. Urvi Shah,  "Nutrivention," to find your favorite format of her presentation.  She suggests eating 30 different fruits/vegetables/legumes per week.  This is a great challenge.  Good Energy , by Casey Means, focuses on managing many different aspects of one's life to preserve and maximize energy and health.  In addition to consistent sleep, exercise, and a low stress lifestyle, she encourages exposure to daylight, walking in nature and minimizing toxins in air, water and food.  No white sugar, no white flour, no seed oils.  She adds nuts and fresh herbs to the list of fruits/vegetables and legumes she suggests we eat each week.  That makes reaching 30...

I rarely talk about my dreams.  I think that is because I rarely remember my dreams.  Last night I had one of those dreams that stayed with me the entire day today.    This morning I woke up convinced that I had spent last night talking to Lance Armstrong. It was neither his snarky smile nor his cyclist's body that linger in my memory.   It was his generosity.  It was his Livestrong.   I feel compelled to write him, just to close the loop on anything that may have gone unsaid last night.  Dear Lance,  It was nice to meet you last night.   I was so glad that I had the chance to hear about the founding of Livestrong.  I was happy to have had the chance to tell you how much it has added to my life.   Those of us who have been physically, emotionally and psychologically reduced by cancer are deeply grateful for the foundation's generosity in making gym time available to us.   Each Monday and Wednesday ...