My dad, age 73, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma this month. His protein was at 11 and the concerned doctor sent him to get tested. My dad was diagnosed as Stage 3. 80% of his marrow is cancerous, and he has two marks on his bone x-ray, These have been unconfirmed if they are related; the doctors say it could be age.
All my dad's organs are fine. He has some pain in his back, but he's had chronic back pain since I was a child, and he has experienced some rib pain, and he has some anemia. No fractures, no serious infection. My dad says he feels perfectly fine and he's tolerating treatment well. He got diagnosed on a routine check up when they drew blood, Had it not been for that, he never would have known.
He is on Velcade, Cytoxan, and dex. I'm trying to be cautiously optimistic, but it seems that since he is now getting treatment, the prognosis can't be all that grim. Assuming it doesn't get to his organs and he continues to have no infection, I want to believe that this can be managed chronically if he reaches remission. What do you all think?
(I wish I knew all his other labs, He has told me, but this is all so new that I don't know which labs mean for a more grim prognosis.)
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Re: Father diagnosed at Stage 3 - will he be okay?
Oml1987,
Welcome to the forum. One of the good things about multiple myeloma is that, unlike some other cancers, staging really doesn't matter when it comes to how well a patient will respond to treatment. Therefore, the chances are excellent that your dad will respond well to treatment and that he will be able to manage it as a chronic condition moving forward. There is the chance that a given drug combo may not work for a given patient, but that is usually easily remedied by adjusting doses or switching to one of the many other drug combos that are now available to your dad. You will know after a few cycles just how well he is responding to the VCD treatment.
My only concern would be that his x-ray was inconclusive regarding the "marks" on his back and that he has undiagnosed rib pain. I might therefore recommend a PET/CT to get a more definitive diagnosis of his bone issues. A DEXA scan to evaluate his bone density wouldn't be a bad idea either. I suggest these steps so that the doctors might also consider administering a bisphosphonate such as Zometa to help strengthen and repair his bones (although the VCD should also help reduce the pain as well if any of his bone pain is due to multiple myeloma).
Remember, we aren't docs on this forum, so please check with your dad's doc regarding all this.
Welcome to the forum. One of the good things about multiple myeloma is that, unlike some other cancers, staging really doesn't matter when it comes to how well a patient will respond to treatment. Therefore, the chances are excellent that your dad will respond well to treatment and that he will be able to manage it as a chronic condition moving forward. There is the chance that a given drug combo may not work for a given patient, but that is usually easily remedied by adjusting doses or switching to one of the many other drug combos that are now available to your dad. You will know after a few cycles just how well he is responding to the VCD treatment.
My only concern would be that his x-ray was inconclusive regarding the "marks" on his back and that he has undiagnosed rib pain. I might therefore recommend a PET/CT to get a more definitive diagnosis of his bone issues. A DEXA scan to evaluate his bone density wouldn't be a bad idea either. I suggest these steps so that the doctors might also consider administering a bisphosphonate such as Zometa to help strengthen and repair his bones (although the VCD should also help reduce the pain as well if any of his bone pain is due to multiple myeloma).
Remember, we aren't docs on this forum, so please check with your dad's doc regarding all this.
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Multibilly - Name: Multibilly
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Smoldering, Nov, 2012
Re: Father diagnosed at Stage 3 - will he be okay?
OMI,
Sorry to hear about your father. My husband was diagnosed at age 68. His bone marrow came back at 85%. All labs were off the chart, He had a tumor on his shoulder, so he started with radiation, then Revlimid, Velcade, and dexamethasone (RVD) and Zometa for his bones. Within 6 months he was in remission. Went on to do a stem cell transplant. 3 1/2 years later he is still in remission. Taking only Revlimid, 21 days off 7.
During that first 6 months of treatment, he got the shingles from his hip to his foot. If your father hasn't had a shingles shot, make sure his doctor gives him valacyclovir. For whatever reason, my husband's doctor didn't. It took 2 years for him to get use of that leg. He still says the shingles has been worse than the cancer.
Keep your father active, Be uplifting, positive. This does not have to be a death sentence.
Sorry to hear about your father. My husband was diagnosed at age 68. His bone marrow came back at 85%. All labs were off the chart, He had a tumor on his shoulder, so he started with radiation, then Revlimid, Velcade, and dexamethasone (RVD) and Zometa for his bones. Within 6 months he was in remission. Went on to do a stem cell transplant. 3 1/2 years later he is still in remission. Taking only Revlimid, 21 days off 7.
During that first 6 months of treatment, he got the shingles from his hip to his foot. If your father hasn't had a shingles shot, make sure his doctor gives him valacyclovir. For whatever reason, my husband's doctor didn't. It took 2 years for him to get use of that leg. He still says the shingles has been worse than the cancer.
Keep your father active, Be uplifting, positive. This does not have to be a death sentence.
Re: Father diagnosed at Stage 3 - will he be okay?
One other thing. Be sure your father's treatment is being guided by a myeloma expert. This is a rare disease as such, and many new things are happening in the treatment phase ever day. Four new treatments were approved by the FDA last year alone, so there are many options and many great people working to turn those options into a long healthy life for your dad.
Wherever you live, there is an expert nearby. Please find one and search out their opinion!
Best wishes. I'm pushing 5 years since diagnosis and so far, so good!
Wherever you live, there is an expert nearby. Please find one and search out their opinion!
Best wishes. I'm pushing 5 years since diagnosis and so far, so good!
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bluemountain
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