[RogerAN]

Diagnosed in March at age 70

by RogerAN on Sat Apr 20, 2013 2:59 pm

This is my first post, having been diagnosed with myeloma in March 2013 as a 70 year old male. I was diagnosed with MGUS in 2010. My bone marrow biopsy showed 30% clonal plasma cells and my M protein was 29. Initially, my hemoglobin was at 8.4, though with a series of three 5-hour iron infusions, my hemoglobin level is now at 12.0. My IgG was 1910 when diagnosed. My hematologist/oncologist considers my case to be asymptomatic and is not recommending any treatments at this time. He will check my blood again in three months and do another bone marrow biopsy in six months. I did have a skeletal survey done in the past few days but I do not know yet what the results of that are.

My primary symptom was and remains fatigue. The improved hemoglobin levels have slightly helped that, but fatigue remains a frustration. I appreciate seeing the personal stories from other individuals and look forward to hearing more from those who are in more advanced stages of myeloma. I trust that I have reported my statistics accurately.

My other health history includes prostate cancer surgery in August 2012 and polymyalgia pheumatica in 2011, which took 14 months to diagnose.

[TerryH]

Re: Diagnosed in March at age 70

by TerryH on Sun Apr 21, 2013 4:47 pm

Hi Roger,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your story.

Can you explain a bit more why your hematologist/oncologist feels that your asymptomatic / smoldering?

To me, it sounds like you're symptomatic given the depressed hemoglobin level that you had at the time of your diagnosis. Anemia (low hemoglobin levels) is one of the four "CRAB" symptoms that typically indicates that a myeloma patient has active, symptomatic myeloma, not asymptomatic / smoldering myeloma.

Another question ... Have you discussed with your physicians whether your smoldering is one with a high risk of progression to active myeloma? There's a good discussion here in the forum,

https://myelomabeacon.org/forum/formal-risk-of-progression-classification-for-smoldering-multiple-myeloma-t1542.html

about different systems for classifying smoldering patients in terms of their risk of progression. There also have been a number of news articles here at this site recently about new research on that subject. You can find them listed here:

https://myelomabeacon.org/tag/smoldering-multiple-myeloma/

Look forward to hearing more of you story.

[RogerAN]

Re: Diagnosed in March at age 70

by RogerAN on Sun Apr 21, 2013 9:12 pm

Hi TerryH,

Appreciate your questions and comments.

My doctor feels that since the iron infusions brought my hemoglobin level back to 12, that the problem appears to have taken care of itself. When I asked whether it was likely to drop back again, he said he didn't have an answer for that other than to say that he will check my blood again in 3 months.

He is quoting what appears to be the standard expectations for about a 10 percent chance of asymptomatic/smoldering myeloma to turn into active myeloma each year.

I have no basis for disagreeing with him, especially since he is good about checking blood and bone marrow regularly.

As I indicated, I do not have the results of the skeletal survey yet. If lesions show up on the x-rays, then I would assume he might want to start treatments.

Thanks for the links to other threads. I will explore them with interest and will keep you posted on any changes in my condition.

Thanks again for your comments.