[rgrusin]

Treatment options for relapse after two transplants?

by rgrusin on Fri Feb 09, 2018 6:44 pm

My wife is one year into remission after her second stem cell transplant. She is 64, diagnosed originally at 55. She has been taking 10 mg of Revlimid orally. She now suspects, from bone pain, that she may be relapsing again (her first relapse was six years with no maintenance therapy). Her disease is nonsecretory; she has a regularly scheduled PET scan in four weeks, which (along with biopsies) is how her disease is monitored.

Can anyone give us information about what treatment would look like if she relapses after her second stem cell transplant?

(I'm also wondering whether we should try to push up the date of the PET scan. My wife's inclination is to live life normally and wait for the scheduled appointment. The pain is dull and constant but not debilitating.)

Thanks.

[Gala]

Re: Treatment options for relapse after two transplants?

by Gala on Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:03 am

Hi,

Sorry to hear that your wife is experiencing bone pain. It may be a false alarm, but I would encourage you to get it checked out as soon as possible. My sister had some bone pain while in remission, and then it went away temporarily, so she decided to wait till her next scheduled appointment. The pain then returned much stronger and a relapse was confirmed. She also seems to be nonsecretory now, as her M-spike is still 0.

My sister's myeloma is high-risk, so she is now in hospital waiting to have some bridging chemotherapy with cisplatin and some other agents (has not been confirmed yet), after which the plan is to use Darzalex with either Revlimid or Velcade + dexamethasone.

Your wife's treatment may be different, there are a lot of options these days, and it sounds like your wife has not had that many. So, her doctors will know better, but it is wise to get her myeloma status checked out sooner rather than later.

[lys2012]

Re: Treatment options for relapse after two transplants?

by lys2012 on Sun Feb 18, 2018 8:48 am

I just had my second transplant. I was originally diagnosed in 2010 and had my first transplant.

I don't know about your wife, but my doctors and I discussed the many treatment options during my relapse. We decided on the option to pursue and what will be Plan B if the transplant doesn't work. For me, Plan B is a Darzalex and Revlimid trial.

[Stann]

Re: Treatment options for relapse after two transplants?

by Stann on Fri Mar 02, 2018 9:26 pm

I thought I had bone pain in my ribs but it turned out it was muscle related. After a week of physical therapy, the pain was gone. Earlier I thought I had bone pain in my foot; it lasted for months. Then my 80-year-old mom said "Oh, that's plantar fasciitis. Go get arches at the drug store."

Is she sure it's bone pain?