Myeloma Forum | SmithAndy | Activity https://forum.myeloma.org.uk/members/AndyS/activity/ Activity feed for SmithAndy. Thu, 23 Apr 2026 08:35:23 +0100 https://buddypress.org/?v=2.9.4 en-GB 30 hourly 2 2aaa88c0264fce7e5bb7652a6a3d2f8a SmithAndy replied to the topic Some good news in the forum General http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/some-good-news1341140402#post-93025 Sun, 01 Jul 2012 17:00:31 +0100 Hi Mavis,
Great news that your PPs have taken the hint. Lets hope they stay that way for a long time.
I had a couple of months off after CDT and I didn't have any real problems and the effects slowly wore off and I began to feel more normal. A bit down on energy though, that didn't return fully until after my STC.
Best wishes,
Andy

]]> e8425216c9392ed26998ec898300ccf4 SmithAndy replied to the topic SCT Colin in the forum Treatment http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/sct-colin/page/3/#post-99586 Wed, 27 Jun 2012 22:56:12 +0100 Hi Penny,
Good luck with your STC. I hope it all goes well and you are spared infections and pop out at the other end very quickly on an upward slope to a long remission.
If the good wishes of lots of folk have any meaning, then success is assured.
Andy

]]> 0563a0d358342375053df0abefd80588 SmithAndy replied to the topic SCT Colin in the forum Treatment http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/sct-colin/page/2/#post-99574 Tue, 26 Jun 2012 22:35:43 +0100 Hi Vickie and Colin,

Following your thread reminds me of many of the ups and downs and the uncertainties of the journey from being ill, to diagnosis and then on to primary treatment and from there to the STC route.

Going from being desperately ill (in hindsight) then feeling better(ish) and able to function to some extent despite the effects…[Read more]

]]> a7e4d31a54632afe0042e59a74e1d1f7 SmithAndy replied to the topic Channel 4 Documentary in the forum Treatment http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/channel-4-documentary#post-99618 Mon, 25 Jun 2012 22:09:28 +0100 Please be very careful,people, before getting involved with TV researchers. I spent most of my working life as a film editor and made films and programs over a very wide range of topics. Be aware that although some projects are a serious attempt to convey some meaning and insight into human existence, i.e. serious documentaries,
many end up as…[Read more]

]]> 3b700e0f3b93352c8d6c2d227cbafd32 SmithAndy replied to the topic SCT Colin in the forum Treatment http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/sct-colin#post-99559 Fri, 22 Jun 2012 21:48:21 +0100 Hi Vicky and Colin,

I had my STC last Autumn and with the harvesting and all the other mucking about involved, it is a lot of effort for everyone involved. I spent a total of 7 days as an in-patient (N&N try to get you home as much as they can). Yes, it is quite hard and uncomfortable, they are after all filling you up with some pretty strong…[Read more]

]]> a44e7cddf49f2fbcc2812fd87517781e SmithAndy replied to the topic 2nd Relapse...I just knew it! in the forum General http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/2nd-relapsei-just-knew-it#post-92798 Sun, 10 Jun 2012 17:54:48 +0100 Hi Keith,
I'm sorry you have relapsed, though it's good to know that there are more and more effective therapies being developed to give us hope. When I was on CDT everything had an odd taste which I was told was due to the Dex. I'll be able to find out soon as Dex will be part of my new regime too. Best of luck with your Revlimid/Dex…[Read more]

]]> 1ac6af3889012cbff90896a38a5d3f91 SmithAndy replied to the topic STC Failed! in the forum General http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/stc-failed#post-92786 Sun, 10 Jun 2012 17:29:02 +0100 Hello Mavis,
I have to get it done at hospital because although the injection is very small and quick it is done through a cannula and needs to be accompanied with a saline flush. Tuesdays and Fridays at hospital is a bore but its only 20 minutes down the road so compared with some poor souls, I've got it very easy really. Also the day clinic is…[Read more]

]]> 8fcac91cb2c7588ff057088459ffb167 SmithAndy replied to the topic STC Failed! in the forum General http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/stc-failed#post-92780 Fri, 08 Jun 2012 09:09:55 +0100 Thank you for your kind thoughts Helen and Eva. My consultant thinks that if STC fails as early as mine has, the next one is very likely going to fail quickly too. Given the amount of time and discomfort involved with stem cell treatment, I will see what the Velcade can do for a while. The first cycle starts two days after we were due to go on…[Read more]

]]> b7c1d1455b43f0fc2e6cfe0c63d91236 SmithAndy started the topic STC Failed!. in the forum General http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/stc-failed Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:34:10 +0100 I had my regular appointment today and my consultant confirmed what I'd already worked out. The Myeloma is back.

I had my STC at the end of September and came through it really well and by January I felt better than I had done for years. Blood test results since my STC were:
1/Para protein detectable but not measurable.
2/ Ditto…[Read more]

]]> 0ac91a56f913d0f5d03d3be153e89d20 SmithAndy replied to the topic Starting stem cell harvest next Monday. in the forum General http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/starting-stem-cell-harvest-next-monday#post-92185 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:10:00 +0000 Hi Terry,
There seem to be any number of plumbing systems used to harvest us. I had an aphoresis line that went into my neck. It worked very well and all samples, transfusions and everything went through the two tubes. In my case I could do anything I wanted within the extent of the length of the tubes connecting me to the machine. I could have…[Read more]

]]> b74863b187c59b0b8a5e5c8d0ff9c767 SmithAndy replied to the topic Is it back? in the forum General http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/is-it-back#post-92011 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 11:33:00 +0000 Hi Amelie,
Has anyone suggested that the pain John is getting in his ribs might be caused by shingles? I had two episodes of shingles in eighteen months prior to diagnosis with MM. The first time, I had classic shingles with the characteristic chicken pox rash and the second time mainly pain around my ribcage but with only a tiny short lived…[Read more]

]]> b678ea986b744e77222973eb88f1decb SmithAndy replied to the topic SCT in the forum Treatment http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/sct1322348857#post-98544 Mon, 28 Nov 2011 22:37:44 +0000 Hi Only Me,
Sorry your Mum is feeling so low but although at the time it's horrible, it does improve. I had my STC 9 weeks ago and like your mum, my neutrofils zeroed at day 6. On day 7 I was readmitted to hospital with a grumbling temperature(Norwich does STC's with as much time at home as they can). By day 9 my mouth and every thing South of it…[Read more]

]]> f25fac3609f900cc752cf247eb881d65 SmithAndy replied to the topic Keeping up appearances in the forum General http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/keeping-up-appearances#post-91751 Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:05:47 +0000 Hello Helen,
I'm glad that the big things are going so well for you. The little ones can be very annoying though, can't they? I'm at six weeks after my STC and like you, am doing fine. I still don't know what my PPs are yet though. I still have some hair although I've had to cut it very short so it doesn't look like the moths have been at it. I…[Read more]

]]> 3b676b733592f5802318ab9838642965 SmithAndy replied to the topic Stem Cell Transplants in the forum Treatment http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/stem-cell-transplants#post-97196 Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:33:39 +0000 Hi, Thanks for your thoughts.I will of course be guided in all things by my consultant and I am thinking more in terms of a wish list at present. These are such early days for me and I have no way of knowing how my PP levels will respond in the coming months. When and if they get to a suitable state and my consultant advises that it's the right…[Read more]

]]> 142b55df3763b1000a82397a1f443ba6 SmithAndy replied to the topic Stem Cell Transplants in the forum Treatment http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/stem-cell-transplants#post-97192 Mon, 07 Mar 2011 18:24:38 +0000 Hi Dave,
I think we are sailing a parallel course. I too started treatment with radiotherapy on my thoracic spine with a vertebra pinching my spinal cord and have the same problems with my legs. As I'm feeling much better now and the weather is improving I'm hoping to get out and walk and do much more execise because I have been stuck indoors not…[Read more]

]]> 0dbaf03dcb3069d6e4733133ea74993e SmithAndy replied to the topic Stem Cell Transplants in the forum Treatment http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/stem-cell-transplants#post-97188 Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:40:19 +0000 Thank you Min, David & Keith. Your experiences are very helpful, but as you say it's such an individual thing it's, I suppose, what happens in the next few months will decide what will happen and I'm just a bye-stander really. If my paraproteins keep falling at the original rate I should be down to zero by about next Wednesday! Haha! I'm being…[Read more]

]]> c2b9ac89786e266fe4c8c1b34855a3a3 SmithAndy started the topic Stem Cell Transplants. in the forum Treatment http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/stem-cell-transplants Mon, 07 Mar 2011 06:58:51 +0000 Well it's 6am. I've made a cup of tea, emptied the dishwasher and hung up the washing and fiddled with my computer for half an hour. Must be a Dexi day and I'm feeling Grrrreaaaate! Funny thing is; only my wife seems to be getting angry.
I will be 65 in July and fairly fit and I've been on CDT for just over a month now and had my first review…[Read more]

]]> 3d930d81d95a873587d74a54c8936190 SmithAndy replied to the topic More radiotherapy and spinal cord compression in the forum Treatment http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/more-radiotherapy-and-spinal-cord-compression/page/2/#post-97091 Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:22:46 +0000 Hello all
Thank for your kind welcome. Even as a beginner this forum makes it clear how much we all share similar experiences as we confront myeloma as well as the illness itself and the related issues of side-effects and "bits dropping off" as a consequence of it. I am sure that I will be able to learn from the experience of others and I hope,…[Read more]

]]> 5ec562fa32bf91006b1c8b80c6704074 SmithAndy replied to the topic More radiotherapy and spinal cord compression in the forum Treatment http://www.myeloma.org.uk/forums/topic/more-radiotherapy-and-spinal-cord-compression/page/2/#post-97088 Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:12:36 +0000 Hi Sharon,
I'm new to this forum but just under a month ago I went to a hospital appointment with back pain and in the course of four hours had been diagnosed with myeloma, given dex, sampled for bone & bone marrow, MRI'd and admitted on bed rest, next day the radiotherapy began. It all came as something of a shock. They kept me in for three days…[Read more]

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