I wasn't at the appointment with my mother, but apparently her consultant didn't offer any opinion on the trial either way. In fact, he stressed he needed to be "unbiased"?odd.

Thanks for the well wishes, Tom.

[i]Familial[/i] means there has been some evidence of it "being in families", but we don't yet know why. So far, researchers have failed to find a specific gene that leads one to get MM, but that's not to say there couldn't be a genetic component.

From Cancer Research UK:

[i]A small number of case-control studies have consistently found…[Read more]

From the International Myeloma Foundation:

[i][b]My grandmother died of multiple myeloma and now my dad has been diagnosed with this disease. Is myeloma hereditary?[/b]

There is only a weak family tendency to develop myeloma. Approximately 3-5% of patients with myeloma give a history of myeloma or a related condition within the extended…[Read more]

Hey Eve, thanks for your reply. My mother is in her sixties, so I'm guessing they'll give her two injections a week. Last time my mother had chemotherapy she was in hospital the whole time?seems Velcade will involve a lot of toing and froing, but at least she'll be able to sleep in her own bed at night.

Hey Debs, thanks for the heads up about the Peripheral Neuropathy.

(Cool name, by the way!)

Hi Dai,

Thanks for the in-depth response. Interesting!

Shamefully, I'm not sure which combination of chemotherapy she had initially (other than it being Thalidomide-based), but she did have a Stem Cell Transplant.

"Velcade is usually given at this stage as a preparation for the second SCT… that is, the remission is not usually…[Read more]

Annette, I didn't know that; thanks for sharing. Can one get a shingles vaccination in the UK?

Thanks for the kind words, Tom!