Happy New Year!

I want to report that I went to the Patriots game yesterday and it was awesome!  I bundled enough up to stay warm, and it was wonderful to spend the time with Jeff and his girlfriend, Christine, Brian, and my friend, Dave.  The Patriots won, so we all enjoyed it immensely.  The best thing about it is that I still haven't contracted any of the colds or viruses that have afflicted the rest of my family.  That's kind of puzzling, but I'll take it.

This has been an eventful year for me.  I began the year with very promising signs of progress with my MLN9708 clinical trial regimen to control my MM.  I then volunteered for the ASCT clinical trial and underwent the stem cell transplant in March, which went amazingly well.  I recovered quickly and now find myself in a stringent Complete Response (sCR) and on a Rev maintenance therapy for what I hope will be a long time.  It has been a good year for me!  I'm feeling really good and I'm very optimistic about the prospects for 2013.

I didn't report this in my last blog, but on Christmas day, I was walking back from the mailbox after retrieving the newspaper when I slipped on a sheet of ice which was covered by a dusting of snow.  I made a perfect two-point landing on my elbow and hip.  (I assure you all that there were no ladders involved in this incident.)  I rose unsteadily to my feet with a lot of pain but no indication of anything broken.  I don't know if my bones are naturally strong despite the MM or whether the Zometa has helped to strengthen them, but I am grateful that I can still take a hit like that without serious damage, although the 6-7-inch long purple scar on my elbow attests to the severity of the incident.  (As a friend of mine reminded me, I have no other appendage on my body of that length.  Thanks, Bob.)

I was hoping that my recorded video teleconference session would appear sometime soon on the WEGO Health Channel, but nothing was happening.  I emailed Linda Man to check the status and got a response that she no longer worked there.  Hmmm.  I then emailed the website contact to find out what was happening with the video we recorded and got no response.  Shit!  It looks like all the video that Pat Killingsworth, Matt Goldman, and I recorded will be relegated to the cutting room floor.  If Linda is no longer there, I guess they don't want to sponsor a video teleconference with her as a moderator.  Oh well.  There may be other times for me to reach others beyond this blog, but then again, maybe not. C'est la vie.  

While I was in DFCI last week, I saw a newsletter showing that Dr. Ken Anderson has received the American Cancer Society's Medal of Honor Award, its highest honor. He was honored for his contributions to the understanding of the cause and treatment of Multiple Myeloma and his service to the cancer research community.  I am so fortunate to be under the care of these incredible doctors at DFCI!

This is News Years Eve, and I've had a couple of glasses of champagne (don't tell Dr. Richardson), so I may not be too coherent.  However, I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year, and more importantly, a Healthy New Year.  There is nothing more important in life than love, family, and health.  I am blessed to have all three this New Year's Eve.  So Cheers everyone!  I'll drink to that!