Flying The Sometimes Not-So-Friendly Skies

So, you've decided to leave your happy corner of Myelomaville and go out-and-about on an adventure, hunh?

Travel can sometimes prove to be a daunting activity for many of us dealing with multiple myeloma. Following is an account of a quick trip that I took to San Francisco which recently appeared in the Myeloma Beacon.

Sean's Burgundy Thread

Have a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

   

For the latest news and information in the myeloma world, please visit the Myeloma Beacon.

New Link to the Burgundy Thread Archive at the Myeloma Beacon

Boris Simkovich, CEO of Light Knowledge Resources and Publisher of the Myeloma Beacon, was kind enough to send me a better link to my article archive at the Myeloma Beacon.

This link will allow you to see my articles in reverse chronological order of publication. For my cousin Clem, that means newest first - oldest last. Sort of like on bath night Saturday. Here's the link:

Sean's Burgundy Thread

Please, please, please don't just read my articles. Take a thorough  tour of the Beacon's website. Look at the Forums, browse the Links, Blogs, Resources, etc. Share this important site with anyone you know who may be facing a diagnosis of multiple myeloma or who simply wants to learn more about this blood cancer.

Thanks, Boris!

Myeloma Beacon Articles

A friend asked me to post a link to my articles in the Myeloma Beacon archives. Here you go:

Assorted Ramblings from Sean's Burgundy Thread

I think that I am getting a second wind to tackle this blog again. Life with one wife, two children, three dogs, and four years of cancer treatment have consumed my waking minutes. It's time to get back at it! 

Myeloma Smyeloma

Over the last four years I have 'stoically endured with a smile' (my wife's words) 16 bone biopsies and bone marrow aspirations, surgery to repair collapsed vertebrae, lots of fractures, major high-dose chemo,  and much more during my treatment for multiple myeloma. Many of you have done the same.

You'd think that I wouldn't have been nervous to have a simple dental cavity filled on  a recent afternoon in Springfield, MO. Not an extraction or oral surgery, I wasn't worried about osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ),  a serious condition which can lead to bone death in the jaw.  It was just a tiny cavity. You'd think that I wouldn't be nervous, BUT...

The last cavity I had was 23 years ago. Same tooth. The new cavity was seen on x-rays underneath the old filling. Was I afraid of pain? No. Afraid because the dentist eerily resembles Steve Martin a la Little Shop of Horrors? No. Afraid of the noise, the smell, the whatever? Nope.

Why was I nervous? Well, because 23 years ago, as my former dentist, a big, burly, long-maned Greek, leaned over me to administer the first novacaine injection, the little-round-stool-on-wheels he parked himself on, shot out from under him like a bottle rocket as he proceeded to poke me in my right eyebrow with the needle. Yep. I can still hear him scream like a schoolgirl.

When my wife and I began going to a new dentist several years ago, I shared this story with the hygienist who laughed with me and assured me that nothing like that ever happened at their practice.

As she walked toward me with the tray full of dental implements to prepare for the check-up, she tripped on, yes, the little-round-stool, and showered me with picks and files and explorers and cinnamon polish, and the like.

The only thing that happened today was my fleeting panic when the dentist muttered: 'What is wrong with this chair?'

Somewhere there is a Sean Murray voodoo doll, sitting on a little-round-stool, with needles stuck in its stoically smiling mouth. I wonder if it has myeloma, too.  

Smyeloma graphic (c) Sean Murray 2012