[Sue nicholls]

Any advice for me regarding my mum?

by Sue nicholls on Thu Jun 05, 2014 8:39 am

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could explain some things for me concerning my mum who is 77 and has multiple myeloma.

Mum was diagnosed just before Xmas with this cancer. To add to it all, mum has Alzheimer's which is quite advanced, so getting any real feedback on how she is feeling is very difficult.

For the last 5 months mum has been having a 'low dose' of chemo in tablet form along with steroids etc. Excuse my lack of technical terms as I am not yet up on the whole thing. The treatment has helped to 'manage' ( their words) her condition in a none invasive way.

For the last 3 months she has also had an infusion of medication which helps to prevent her bones from deteriorating further.

At the end of May I took her as usual to see the doctor and to have her treatment at the hospital where they also give me her tablets for the next months treatment. It had been a particularly stressful day and I didn't question some things that were said to me. The doctor informed me that that it was her last prescription for the tablets but she would still have the bone treatment.

My question is, Is there a limited amount of time mum can stay on the tablets and that is why they are stopping them? Or, do they stop them and then start again at a later time?

My obvious concern is that without the drugs she will become very I'll again very quickly and I, as well as her home, will need to be even more alert to any changes.

To be honest I'm feeling rather confused about the whole thing. If they have stopped the drugs for good I would rather know as I handle things much better with straight talking.

I have researched quite a bit and found nothing on the 'what happens after' question.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thank you
sue

[Nancy Shamanna]

Re: Any advice for me regarding my mum?

by Nancy Shamanna on Thu Jun 05, 2014 9:08 am

Hi Sue, I can understand how stressful this must be for you, being the caregiver for your mother. It would probably be a good idea to contact the doctor's office and get copies of her lab results and the names of the medications she has been taking.

It sounds as if she may have been taking 'Revlimid', which is an oral med, along with a steroid, either dexamethasone or prednisone Is it possible that she has stopped taking it because she is in remission, or would there be another reason, such as a financial one or other?

The bone building media are still being given so there must be a concern about the myeloma that way. So I think you need to discuss this further with your doctor as to why she will be taken off chemo meds.

There is a lot of information available about myeloma that you can access on this site by typing your question into the search' box at the top right hand corner of this page. Hope that helps!

[Susan Ann Nicholls]

Re: Any advice for me regarding my mum?

by Susan Ann Nicholls on Fri Jun 06, 2014 8:03 am

Thank you ,
I'll see if I can get any further info by searching on here.
Sue