Articles

"The kids are driving me nuts!" I overheard my grandmother say to her sister Zola. "What did we do?" I whispered to my mother. "The boys and I have been...

The other day I was filling out an online survey about life with multiple myeloma. One question asked me to list my 5 most significant challenges since my diagnosis. I...

As I write this, I am just a few months away from the ten-year anniversary of my multiple myeloma diagnosis. Suffice it to say, I am pretty darn excited about...

I have yet to meet someone who said, “2020 was a great year!” And at the tender young age of 77, I can honestly say, I have never experienced a...

Recently, we’ve had an influx of visitors on another site I write for who have been recently diagnosed and it reminded me that it’s probably time for a post about...

This giveaway has closed. In honor of Myeloma Action Month, we are hosting a giveaway running from March 19, 2021, until March 31, 2021! We are giving away a self-care...

I’ve never been without a pet. Until recently. It’s a lonely feeling. Something is missing and I search for it in little creaks and noises when my mind is wandering...

The beauty of words is that most of the time they can mean different things to different people. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it's not. In this day of...

Even if you are on your own, you can take this blood cancer journey. Not everyone has a big, smiling support group on the sidelines cheering them on. That’s okay...

Fatigue. I know, it gets talked about all the time when cancer is the discussion topic du jour. I have even talked about it myself, more than once, but I...

I hate mice! As an elementary school teacher, students loved to bring critters to school for show and tell. I didn't even flinch when a student brought in a giant...

Approximately seven months ago, I wrote two articles on my experiences starting a nonprofit. Part 2 was primarily about mistakes made and lessons I learned. It ends with a piece...

I’ve been going through doctors like candy. My original oncologist left the insurer. The next doctor, whom I liked very much, retired. My current doctor seems nice but I only...

There are many choices to contemplate when blood cancer strikes, but determining whether or not to continue your employment has to be a huge factor. Unfortunately, for many, the choice...

In October comes Halloween! And with Halloween comes candy, lots and lots of candy. It’s in all the stores and every kind is available. There’s chocolate, gooey, hard, soft, and...

The one missing piece to my story thus far is the impactful tale of my first (and only so far) bone marrow biopsy. It was six years ago so some...

When I relapsed three-and-a-half years after my autologous transplant, I was surprised – well, actually dismayed – to learn that I would get a new doctor for my upcoming allogeneic...

Recently a friend told me about a movie that made him not just cry, but sob. I am a sucker for those kinds of movies, so I knew I had...

Learning you have cancer is just the first step, muddling through what follows is often a mind-blowing journey of uncertainty. By age 77, I had faced cancer twice before. At...

Rainbows, puppies, and unicorns are in short supply at the moment. Sorry, my natural sarcasm is at the forefront. Today is day three of non-stop nausea and annoying pain that...