[elsshepParticipant]

My husband has just finished 6 cycles of ctd treatment. (he was diagionsed end of jan).He was very three weeks from a coma before they realised what was wrong. However, he is currently in hospital suffering from pneumonia brought on by the cmv virus, this is the second time he has caught this virus and we have now been told by our consultant that he can now no longer go for the sct as it would be to dangerous.
He went on to say that there were other options available to us but did not go into detail, he said we would have a discussion before my husband leaves hospital . his last paraprotein test showed the myeloma was undetactable.Ive been looking into some of the treatments that may be available and all I am seeing is either velcade or revilimd. Are these the only two options available? I would appreciate any fed back at all as we feel devasted as we were hoping the sct would give us a good quality of life without medication.

[andygParticipant]

Hiya
SCT is not a necessity in the treatment of myeloma. Though it is commonly used to good effect. There is a big discussion going on now as to the merits of just having drug therapy.
As your husband has been successfully treated with CDT he could stay in remission for a long time before he needs treating again. For a SCT to go ahead you need to be fit and in relatively good health it is a major operation.
CDT is usually the first line treatment, unless there’s a kidney problem then Velcade is used, Velcade is commonly used as a second line and now Revlimid is a 3rd line treatment.
Drugs are improving all the time and how and when they’re used is changing all the time.
There is more than 2 drug options left to your husband if he starts to relapse. I think I’m on my 5th or 6th different treatment regime. His doc may want to try maintenance therapy though I don’t think that’s big in the uk yet though it’s catching on. There are more drugs in the pipeline too.
Try not to worry about what ifs and treatments down the line concentrate on what’s in front
of you both now. If your husband is in remission he will not need any medication for his myeloma and you may get the quality of life you hope for.
Remember too SCT doesn’t work for everyone in rare cases they relapse quickly. Talking of rare cases I’ve been on chemo since diagnosis in 2011 the treatments just don’t want to work for me.

Every day is a gift.

Andy xx

• This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by  andyg.

[VickiParticipant]

Hi there,

Andy is quite right. There are many drugs out there and we had the very same conversation with our consultant today. The jury is out about sct and whether drug treatment is the better option. Mavis has been mm free for over 2 years I believe. My colin had an sct but he’s now on the brink of return and he only got from October 2012 to now…..so there’s lots of hope and lots of drugs. Sct is doubtful for Colin second time around so we have been given two options now….cdt or valcade, when the time comes. Drugs are aplenty so please try not to worry too much. You need to conserve your energy to help hubby….easier said than done I know,

Best of luck

Vicki and Colin xx

[elsshepParticipant]

Thank you Andy, Vicki and Colin for replying to me. Today has been a much better day and certainly feeling lot more optimistic. I’ve stopped panicking and started to get everything into perspective. The most important thing being Hubby is doing well and the antibiotics seem to be doing their job so keeping fingers crossed he gets home soon. We are just going to take each day as it comes and enjoy the good days and together we will get through the bad days.
Good luck to you both I hope there is many more happy days ahead for you all. This is a cruel relentless cancer and you are very right in saying Andy every day is gift.
Best of luck and thank you for the kindness you’ve shown me
Elspeth xx

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