My brother who has been DX in november with stage 3 MM with chromosome issues..IGg kappa and beta 2 microglobulin level of 13.2 ..things were moving SO fast and information was coming at a rate far too fast to comprehend. He was 100 % cellularity and with not too much hope from the doctors.. He was given 200 mg velcade and Deximethasone after 6 sessions the cancer was reduced to under 3% then in march he underwent "high dose" and stemcell transplant.yes he has lost most of his hair and is a bit fatigued but overall he is doing well.his biggest complaint is neuropathy as his feet are almost unbearable (tingling,burning,and numbness) I have been with him every day for the past 6 months and have watched a strapping 50 year old go through the treatment. This whole thing is just like a war...the cancer advances..we attack..the body weakens...the cancer waits regroups and wages another advance,we (the doctors) launch another attack and the body weakens some more. The stem cell transplant is like full scale thermoneuclear war which damages your realestate as much as it destroys the enemy.Somewhat like mutually assured destruction.The problem is you can only do battle over the same real estate so many times.So at this time we are waiting to see what the enemy will do.(remission) We are in the war room looking over our future options we have revlimid.steroids thalidomide,velcade and a battery of other resources including the nukes.I asked the doctors at Yale ..."why dont we attack when the cancer is in remission if it is beaten down why cant we bring it to surrender" and he said"the cancer is like the vietnam war as the cancer hides in small numbers underground and when you think it is beat It rears up again" In NAM we used "moles" to go into the hideouts to remove the enemy but in medicine we do not have this ability. so for the time being we are in a wait,watch and see pattern...the only difference now is we understand the enemy a little bit more and are more prepared for the future.Good luck to all who have to wage this war.