On 1/28/2008 wevebeenthere wrote:
Hi, My husband has had multiple myeloma since June of 2007, he was 57 at the time. He has been through the same things as your father. For his back pain, he was fitted with a custom made back brace through Orthomedics in Kearney Ne. This brace was molded and made especially to his body. He was unable to take strong pain medications due to other health issues and surgery was not an option because of the compromised bones issues with myeloma. He used the brace for about a month and it really helped the pain. After a month he no longer needed the brace. For myeloma, his doctor started him on revlimid 25 mg, an oral medication taken once daily for 21 days then 7 days off then start the cycle over. He also takes low dose dexamethasone 4 mg, also an oral medication, 10 tablets once a week. Our family doctor said that he had never seen proteins as high as my husband had when he started treatment. He has now been through 6 months of treatments and is in remission. When the treatments were started, his creatinine went up due to the fact that his body could not break down the m proteins fast enough. This can lead to kidney failure. He was started on allopurinol 300 mg once daily to aid the break down process and his creatinine went back to normal. Hope this helps you. Ask your doctor about this information. Maybe it will help your father.
Good Evening WBT;
Reading your post re: your husband was like looking back at my Dx. and Tx. The only exceptions being I'm slightly younger (49) and I also take Velcade injections and my Dr. had me on 14 day of 21 day cycles.
How high was your husband's numbers at Dx? From what you're describing he was probably Stage III. This drop to remission is quite remarkable in this time period! Very good news! Was he offered a stem cell transplant?
What is he taking now? Any maintenance therapy? They can reduce the Rev/Dex/Vel to lower levels just to maintain the lower numbers.
Take care;
Kevin