Quite often in life we are given choices to make, most times you do not know if you have made the correct quite often years later. And we think about it, I could only how could I have known what was the right thing to do? What If i had chosen the other road??? With MM there are many choices to make most of them we will not know the correct answer for months maybe years but we must choose. How do you make a good choice. Research, look for an answer, ask for help, use every resource you can find; DON"T GIVE UP. Post a Discussion and ask, we are all here for help and to give help Be the persistant dog with a chew toy keep at it until you get to the center, Then you can make a good choice with a clean concience.
If any one has had to make a choice concerning treatment (stem cell) please give us you story
Rodney, if I hadn't seen your name on this post, I'd have bet my boyfriend wrote it! He has been struggling with choices about treatment since he was diagnosed (02/19/14). I agree with all you have said here...research, ask for help, be persistant. You may never know if you made the "right" decision...but...as long as YOU feel good with it, know that it is the right decision for YOU.
Don't give up! If you have questions, like Rodney has said, please post a discussion and voice your concerns, questions, fears or even if you just need to vent. We aren't experts here. We are people just like you, either dealing with this directly or indirectly through someone we love. Sometimes, just knowing someone cares makes all the difference. Please don't hesitate to share what you're going through or have been through. It can really make a difference to someone else.
Hi Rodney, I went to see the Oncologist today to get the second bone marrow biopsy report. When I was first diagnosed February 2014, I had 40% cancer cells in the bone marrow. Today after 7 rounds of Velcade & Dex and 2 rounds of Cytoxin during rounds 3 and 4, my bone marrow now has 8% to 10% MM cells. My M spike was drawn today and I will find out the results on Friday. My last M spike 30 days ago was 0.6. I am going to go for the stem cell transplant. A very dear friend from this group put the information so clear to me that all of the positive bells and whistles went off. When you are first diagnosed, you are at your healthiest with the least organ damage. Your body is at its best state to have a stem cell transplant. If you wait 2 to 6 years to have the transplant and just control the MM with aggressive chemo, the affects are cumulative. Your Kidneys, Heart, lungs and liver all take a toll from the medication that is keeping you in a remission. So if you think stem cell transplant may be a possibility, think about doing it early when your body is at its healthiest point. The positive about the early choice is that you may achieve MRD ( Minimal residual disease). meaning that sensitive testing could not find any sign of myeloma in the body. That is what we all are striving for. Always remember MM is a different disease for everyone. One treatment does not fit all. You need to have trust in your Oncologist and see a Multiple myeloma specialist. Make sure the Hospital that will be doing the transplant is rated the highest. The decision comes down to you the patient. Learning about the journey from others and from them offering me advice from the heart has truly been my salvation. I am at peace with my decision for stem cell transplant. Before this last weekend and the advice I received, I was in turmoil with every thought consumed by the "what if's". Thank you my friend, Juli
:) My friend Juli, the wisdom radiating from your post is fantastic, you have done the research and found what makes sense for you. As Kim said we are not doctors or experts, but we are patients and experts at being patients,. We have had to face many choices most of which neither option is ideal and neither is 100% correct, but once we put all the facts together we know what is correct for us. This type of decision always needs to depend on your health, my doctor explained to me that the transplant was a way to give us a break from the meds so this all makes sense. Juli I will hope and pray that your procedure goes as well as mine but gets better results. For me the transplant was a breeze, I had no mouth sores and almost no nausea. Ate my meals but still lost weight, 2 weeks after being released I went back to work and walked the peremiter of a 1 million sq ft building, about 1.5 miles. It was hard but when I was done I felt like I was on top of the world. My last day at the hospital I had them shave my hear. the hair was falling out anyhow, it felt good inside for I was starting over. Thank You My Friends, keep your faith and hold tight and never give up
God Bless you all and may he care for you through this