[deeceebee123Participant]

Hi. Recently diagnosed with MM. the consultant hasn’t put me through for stem cell transplant due to the fact I have atrial fibrillation. I was getting afib episodes once every couple of months lasting 2-3 days. This diagnosis has sent it a bit mad but is calming again.
The echocardiogram I had shows there’s little if anything wrong with my heart just the afib. Is this reason enough not to be offered stem cell transplantation

[rabbitParticipant]

Hi deeceebee123,

I have MM and had two heart issues. One of those issues was afib: in my case, I had an operation which cured me of afib. Even so, due to the other heart condition, my cardiologist, haemotologist and I discussed the situation and decided that it would be best for me not to have a stem cell transplant.

A stem cell transplant can be grueling, and a dodgy heart is not a good starting point.

In addition, chemo treatments have been improving: the case for MM patients having a transplant is weakening as a result.

Lastly, I came across this study of MM patients with afib having transplants. The hard statistics from this is that it is significantly higher risk for afib patients than otgers: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10198774/

Please, though, don’t lose heart (pardon the pun!). As a small example, I am still going strong, 2 years and 3 months after diagnosis, in remission since June 2023. Went to the gym this afternoon, and off on holiday next week 😀.

Regards
Rabbit

[Author]

Posts