Blogs by, about, and for people who live with myeloma
Bill O'Halloran It has been almost a year since I updated this blog. I apologize for the long absence. Fortunately, since then I have continued to be in remission from the MM, so there has been nothing new to report. That is the main reason I haven’t updated this blog for so long. By the way, yesterday was the 8th anniversary of my stem cell transplant, so Happy Birthday to me!
While I am still doing
I have been subtly reminded (well, maybe not so subtly) that it has been over 4 months since my last post. I confess. It’s true. What can I say? Time just flies when you’re having fun, right?
Well, maybe it hasn’t been so much fun. There have been some major changes in my life that have nothing to do with MM. Gretchen and I are now separated. There! I said it. I didn’t really want to
Last week I met with Paul Richardson and his fellow, Tom Garcia, to discuss my options for Revlimid maintenance going forward. This is the first time I had met Tom, who has worked with Paul for the last 3 years. He was very impressed with how well I am doing. One area I discussed with Paul was whether an MRD test would be clinically useful in determining whether or not I should remain on
I’ve been a really lucky guy. I have been in remission from multiple myeloma for over 6 years now. One of reasons may be that I have been fortunate to be on a clinical trial that has provided me with continuing maintenance using the drug Revlimid on a daily basis free of charge over that time. As you may know, Revlimid is an exorbitantly expensive drug, one of the most expensive in the world.
I’m going to start this off with a good story. For the past seven years, I have been getting infusion therapy for my MM at Dana Farber, most recently with Zometa (bone building) infusions every 3 months. For all this time, Heather has been my primary infusion nurse. She has been a constant presence in my MM journey, and I have gotten to know and care for her. She has been one of the constants
Last weekend, we attended a birthday party for one of our friends’ daughter, Annabella. She was a lovely young lady celebrating her 6th birthday. Now it’s my turn. Today is the 6th anniversary of the stem cell transplant that gave me my new immune system! I call it my “second birthday”. Happy Birthday to me! (I’ve decided to forego the cake and candles.) Since that day, my new immune
Here I am posting barely a month removed after my last post. Will wonders never cease? I’m pinching myself to see if i’m really doing this.
Bangkok Temple of Dawn
We just returned last week from our Viking River Cruise in Southeast Asia. It was the trip of a lifetime for us! We started with an amazing 3-day pre-cruise add-on to Bangkok, Thailand, where we took a long boat ride on the Chao
I was somewhat relieved to discover that my blog account has not been mothballed due to my long absence. It’s been seven months since my last update. My how time flies! So, here I am, still alive and kicking. I’ve had a lot of encouragement over the past few months to update my blog, but somehow I have kept procrastinating. I have finally overcome whatever mental or writer’s block has kept
It has been so long since I last posted that I almost forgot how to find this blog site. I could say that it has been too long, but that would grossly understate the situation. Anyway, like a Phoenix, I have arisen from the ashes.
Early arrivals at our tent
The MMRF Boston 5K Run/walk was held at Carson Beach in South Boston on April 30. This was our second year for this fundraising event.
Hello all! I used to update this blog frequently. In those halcyon days of yore, I used to imagine that I had a legion of devoted followers, all hanging on whatever pearls of wit and wisdom I might dispense in my next blog entry. Alas, those days have passed, and I’m not quite sure why. I seem to have lost a bit of my creative edge. Some of it is due to the fact that I have been fortunate to