[spenemmaParticipant]

Dear All

My wonderful young 72 year old mum was suddenly diagnosed a year ago with MM as acute stage 3 and has been having different cocktails to get to the next stage of SCT. This week my parents have been in and out of Southampton hospital as mum has been having booster injections of Plerixafor that was meant to give mum a reading blood level of 10, mum only managed 4 and the next day after 2 rounds of Plerixafor it had gone down to 3 so today has been told they are unable to proceed with harvesting the cells.

This is a huge blow to our family as mum is so precious to us all, we wondered if anyone else on here has been disappointed with Plerixafor? We wonder what the next plan could be for mum?

Wishing you and your families all the best.

[mulberryParticipant]

Hi spenemma
I’m sorry that you are going through this highly worrying time.
It does sometimes happen that stem cells cannot be harvested at first attempt. Two or three further attempts can be made after a longer break to allow bone marrow recovery so it is likely the team will try again.
All is not lost & do not despair if it is eventually suggested that your mother doesn’t have a stem cell transplant.
Patients can remain on medication to suppress the myeloma indefinitely, I believe about 50% of UK patients don’t have stem cell transplantation.
Statistically survival is longer in UK with SCT but some people choose not to have it as it (or rather the melphalan that goes with it) damages the bone marrow, and some people with other health issues to consider, cannot have it. In USA where a wider range of newer drugs are available, some hospitals are opting not to use SCTs for most patients. It may be that the NHS will agree to fund these drugs here, which will make SCT less frequently used.
I hope your mother has better luck next time.

[Author]

Posts