Decisions....

It is now over 2 and 1/2 months since Tim's SCT. He feels back to normal except that he is
still having some skin issues. Nothing too serious but he still itches. The second round of labs
stayed stable. Our doc is not pushing the full ablative allo so much but still pushing a mini allo
and wanted to start Velcade right away. We stalled and went to our second opinion doc in NYC.
He saw no reason to rush to treat if he remains stable but he also felt allo was the way to go if
Tim wants any chance of a long term outcome. He feels the best he would do on meds is 2 to 3
years and he may stay stable from the transplant for up to 2 years but stressed that was a
"best case scenerio." That makes the total about 4 to 5 years. I see people on the ACOR myeloma listserv.
who go many more years than the docs. told them they would and they were dx'ed before we
had Revlimid and Velcade. We see the transplant doc. this week but I already know what she
will say. Our hosp. is very pro transplant and everyone seems to think we are nuts not to do
it if he has a match. For right now, we are trying to get through the holidays without new meds
(and new side effects). Tim has a gut-wrenching decision to make and educating ourselves is
only so useful. Doctors are split on allo transplants and we are confused and afraid. We are going
to try to push this all out of our minds enough to try to enjoy the holidays.