I'm having my third BMB soon but I've asked for sedation this time. Previous two I went in cold.
My understanding is that staging can be done through multiple approaches depending on your form of myeloma, but yes unfortunately it will involve one of the dreaded BMBs, I've got one lined up in a couple of weeks.
I was told by my specialist that I would definitely need to have my 'childhood' vaccinations redone about a year after the SCT. I was also told that some of these were 'live vaccines' and to be avoided so best bet talk it through with your specialist.
My advice would be that if you have the opportunity to have maintenance treatment take it. There does seem to be an increasing amount of evidence that maintenance alongside an SCT gives you a longer remission.
This disease always comes back and hopefully by the time your mum needs further treatment recently released new drugs will be available.
There's another video report if you follow the link at the bottom of this post
[b]Ottawa researchers hopeful nano-particles can cure leukemia[/b]
Ottawa researchers are cautiously using the word "cure" when talking about new research into leukemia. The research is new and a long way from helping human patients, but in mice, they’ve developed tiny particles that, in the lab, cause cancerous white blood cells to kill themselves.
For patients with acute myeloid leukemia, stem cell transplants and heavy chemotherapy have been the only hope for a cure. But even at that, the survival rate is among the worst of all the cancers at 22%. What's happening inside a lab at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute is giving new hope, though, for a cure for even the toughest types of leukemia. Doctors David Conrad and John Bell have developed a tiny nano-particle that causes human blood cancer cells to kill themselves. The results on mice have been dramatic.
“In 60 percent of the mice, we had a cure,” explains Dr. David Conrad, a hematologist conducting research in the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at the Ottawa Hospital, “so in other words, if we left these mice to continue living in the lab, they would live out their normal lifespan and were essentially cured of the leukemia. All the other untreated mice died within 21 days.”
The particles were able to kill multiple forms of leukemia in the lab including samples taken from local patients who had failed all other forms of therapy. It hasn't yet been tried on humans and likely won't for a couple more years.
Dr. Conrad has captured on video what happens to the leukemia cells when they're exposed to the killer nano-particles. At first, he says, the cells are happy and moving. Once the agent is introduced, very rapidly they change behavior.
“They become bloated and they shrivel up and you see all there's no movement and you see all the cancer cells in the plate completely dead.”
“They think this agent is Def Con 5 and they undergo suicide,” says Dr. Conrad.
For biomedical science student Mina Rizk, working alongside the researchers in a potential cure for leukemia is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"I’m grateful to have found this opportunity,” says Rizk, “I'm very aware that not many students have the chance I do. While their focus has been blood cancers, the researchers say they've had some success on solid cancer tumors, too. the next step, though, are clinical trials to see if they can kill the cancer cells in humans the same way they did in mice
It's these university and hospital based labs that will come up with the cure IMHO.
The big pharma companies are good at further finessing existing treatments but they have less motivation to risk their profits developing novel approaches which is what publicly funded labs can do.
I'm sure Calgary already have commercial partners that they work with and if the initial trials look good will be fighting them off.
Scott great to hear from you. It gets better it really does.
Once your bloods take an upward tick you're nearly there.
I've been out nearly a monty now and feel pretty good, my nausea has gone completely, I take around a half hour walk everyday and my bowels are completely normal. I still have a bit of a runny nose and cough but it's much better.
Tomorrow we're going to norfolk for a couple of days, really looking forward to it.
Jean I'm good, I'm about 3 weeks out of hospital now and feeling better every day. I generally manage a 30 minute walk during the day and am pottering about the house the rest of the time. My diet is getting more varied too 🙂
This Ted talk may be of interest:
http://www.ted.com/talks/william_li.html
William Li presents a new way to think about treating cancer and other diseases: anti-angiogenesis, preventing the growth of blood vessels that feed a tumor. The crucial first (and best) step: Eating cancer-fighting foods that cut off the supply lines and beat cancer at its own game.
Wendy good luck, my specialist keeps saying velcade is a very powerful treatment so don't be too downhearted, you can save Carfilzomib for the future 🙂
Second stem cell transplant followed by a mini allo that's quite a treatment plan good luck with it and sending all my positive thoughts and prayers to you.
tom
I was advised to stop all supplements whilst on treatment and to avoid taking them for a 6 month period post treatment too. Green tea is to be avoided completely if you are having Velcade.
Tom
Best of luck John mate we're all rooting for you.
There's very little clinical evidence to suggest that diet plays a role in the development of cancer but a healthy diet rich in fresh fruit and veg, that avoids processed and sugary foods won't do you any harm at all and will certainly strengthen your immune system.
A useful summary of the various claims and approaches can be found in [i]Anticancer: A New Way Of Life [/i]- by David Servan-Schreiber who was a medical practitioner who developed brain cancer. To be honest I've no idea if any of the approaches work or not but I have tried to follow some of the guidelines and from a psychological point of view it does give you a sense of control.
I do agree with Eve that there's no point in following wacky diets that make you miserable but many of the suggestions and approaches use good fresh food and delicious herbs and spices that I'd be inclined to eat anyhow.
all the best
tom
@tom and Vicki and Colin
Feeling better the last couple of days, cough definitely on the mend but you never know with these things. Amazingly perhaps the antibiotics actually worked 🙂
Scott rooting for you.
Day at a time, it's not much fun but perfectly doable, some people fly through it so hope that's the case with you.
t