New to this group

jdubwhiteboy

I'm 55 and I've diagnosed with MM (plasma cell leukemia) stage 4 about 5 months ago and am in round 3 of my chemo treatment, about 2 months in. I was told 5-6 months of weekly treatment then I will need a stem cell transplant but I'm on the fence on which route to take. I'm not liking the idea of going back to ground zero again. When I first went into the hospital I had to have a total of 15 blood transfusions and 12 units of platelets because the counts kept dropping. I am now stable and the counts are at an acceptable range. I'm getting chemo treatment once a week and am on Revlimid. My question is once I go into remission do I really need the stem cell transplant?

DougL

I would discuss it with your oncologist, but my understanding is once you are in remission you can have your stem cells collected and frozen for future use. Then you can live your life in remission. If your MM reoccurs then you can have your transplant because your healthy stem cells have already been collected.

jdubwhiteboy

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1721703#Comment_1721703

Ok had no idea that was even an option, I will definitely look into it. Thanks for the advise.

russellblink

I went through 7 months of weekly chemo for multiple myeloma, ending in Dec 2024, and then had 2 days of stem cell collection. In January 2025 I had super dose chemo in order to reset my immune system so that the stem cells that were collected could be put back in (this is the stem cell transplant, also called bone marrow transplant). Just over 2 months later I am now almost myeloma free and doing amazingly well, even able to return to work next month. The transplant is definitely scary because of the unknown (it’s different for everyone) but it is shown to extend remission times, possibly forever. Without the transplant the cancer is more likely to return. For me it was definitely worth it, was much easier than I thought it might be, and I feel better than I have in a couple years. My treatment was with a top doc at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC.

jdubwhiteboy

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1721711#Comment_1721711

Thank you for your input, I know everyone's case is different but it is encouraging to hear the positive cases. Glad to hear your doing better with the transplant and almost cancer free, that's awesome since most cases I've heard don't end up being so positive.

DougL

I have a friend who had MM, he had a transplant and he is still cancer free six years later. That was my plan too! I had MM and was 71. But after nine months of chemo (3 different regimens of chemo drugs) nothing was working. I was then recommended for CAR T-Cell Therapy. I was treated at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix and now I'm cancer Free, feeling great, loving life, and Praising God!

jdubwhiteboy

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1721736#Comment_1721736

That's great to hear, I could only hope for the same results. God is good!