My treatments over the years have included radiation to help with the bone pain and a tandem autologous stem cell transplant in 2008. The stem cell transplant was followed
by one year of maintenance therapy with thalidomide and pamidronate which, I’m happy to say, put me into remission from 2009 until 2017.
In 2017, unfortunately my numbers started to rise again, and I was having rib fractures and compression fractures. My oncologists in Newmarket consulted with the transplant doctors at Princess Margaret and together, they determined I was a good candidate for
a 3
rd
stem cell transplant. The procedure was done in 2018. Since then, I have been on
a maintenance regime consisting of Revlimid, dexamethasone and Zometa. Recently, daratumumab was approved and added to my treatment
. I’m thrilled to say that my blood work continues to be where we want it to be!
Most of the treatments I have been on were very tough. The transplants are no walk in
the park but you do get better and I was soon able to do the things I enjoyed before my diagnosis. Jogging of course is no longer an option, but I do a lot of walking and have
an elliptical machine too. Managing side effects can be a challenge.
The chemo and transplants are intense, but you do see improvement each day and that of course
is encouraging and makes you feel better. The compression fractures have been treated by Kyphoplasty. The current dara/Rev/dex treatment is going well. The Dara is administered intravenously at The Southlake Cancer Centre and takes about 5 hours,
so that can be tiring. And anyone that is on Dex knows all too well that sleeping on
‘dex days’ is a challenge. On ‘non-dex days’, well, there’s a nap for that!