Author: Charles Patrick Davis
There is no known treatment that cures multiple myeloma. However, there are methods to decrease the occurrence and severity of symptoms. The therapy is decided based upon the patient's condition and, in some individuals, the multiple myeloma stage and the interaction of the oncologist or cancer management team made with the patient's input.
My Thoughts:
Therefore all I can say you can do is try avoiding the risk factors but truthfully you cant avoid the risk factors.They include things like being over age 65 , being male , being African American or having a family member affected by Multiple Myeloma. But you still could take chemo if you want it . Chemo could relieve symptoms then again, it could cause nausea and vomiting. So in my opinion I would use the chemo for this type of cancer.
First Survivor Jack Aiello:
On Thanksgiving ’02, I finally needed to go on a medical disability due to MM treatment side-effects, specifically peripheral neuropathy (numbness, tingling, and random sharp pains in my feet, legs, and right hand) and fibrosis (scar tissue in my left leg as a result of radiation). It’s been 6 years since any plasmacytoma and my MM is still in remission, but the peripheral neuropathy side effects are still painful despite trying various treatments and even a clinical trial for it.
Second Survivor Andy:Feb 2009 - Brilliant: within a month of Dexamethasone and Lenolidamide the IGs are back down to 14. I asked the consultant if it might be a good time to try and harvest some more stem cells. Yes, there is an unlicenced drug called plerixofer which helps to release the stem cells from the marrow. If we wait for it to be licenced in a couple of months it will cost £12,000 and it is unlikely that we will get it. Sign here if you want to try it. Good news we now have enough stem cells to put in the bank for another autograft. Trouble is that the IGs are once again creeping up.
Third survivor Maria Barnett:I want to share this next info with others so they and maybe the doctors can become aware of it and maybe study it to see if they can prove that this is indeed possible. Many years ago my younger brother was diagnosed with a rare blood disease. I'm sorry I cannot even begin to say or spell the name of it because it is a mile long. This disease is a disease caused by the immune system. Then, in 1995, both my mother and myself had our thyroids go crazy, and they had to kill them. They called our disease Graves Disease and this is caused by the immune system. Next, in 1998, my daughter was diagnosed with Chrons Disease, another disease of the Immune System. Finally, in January of 2000, I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma with lesions, another disease caused by the immune system. So you see, there is a history of diseases here in the family, all diseases of the Immune System.
Fourth survivor James D. Bond:I was in Stage 3 at diagnosis. I have had three stem cell transplants, over the first 9 years, and almost all other Myeloma treatments. I've participated in six clinical trials, and I am currently doing well; and have continued working full-time and pushing myself to stay physically active. Each of the last 2 summers, I rode my bike 328 miles from Cleveland, OH to Cincinnati, OH in the American Cancer Society's Pan Ohio Hope Ride www.panohiohoperide.org. I plan to ride again in 2009. My last urine electrophoresis showed 10 mg of monoclonal protein per liter, or 0.01 grams of monoclonal protein per liter.
Fifth survivor Kathy D'Orlando:I live in Ormond Beach Florida by way of Long Island New York and Tennessee (60 miles from Oak Ridge nuclear power plant). Class of 2003 for both myself and my husband. He in January and I in May 2003. Weird! Both diagnosed within 3 months of each other from "blood cancers", "environmental" induced! He was a landscaper and I have worked in the hospital since 1977. He with Large B-cell aggressive Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Passed on October 5, 2003. Told he was in remission in May 2003 and within 2 weeks cancer was in his brain and spine!
