Hi Lori, thanks for reaching out. Everyone keeps telling me I’m amazing and I just know what he’s gone and going through. What I do is peanuts compared to what he’s endured!
He was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma almost 10 years ago, and he’s, so far, in remission with that. But around last March he got really bad and we found out it’s B-ALL leukemia, likely caused by the Revlimid he took for the MM. They got that controlled with Blincyto, but in early Dec. just when they thought it was nipped, it has come back with a vengeance. We had talked about Car-T previously to keep it at bay, but their feeling now is very strong to do a BMT 60 days after the Car-T.
The kind of crazy thing is that when he was first diagnosed, his dr. told him he wouldn’t survive a BMT. And now he’s recommending it. And their feeling is that even both procedures may only buy him another year. (I’ll take every second they give me!)
He will be going into the hospital on the 25th to start the Car-T. His platelets are single-digit, but he actually feels pretty good and today walked the length of the Mayo complex and up a flight of stairs and barely huffed. So I take that as a good sign and pray for the best. Someone has to beat the odds, right?
The whole thing is daunting, but finding this group is wonderful. I’m one of those people who likes to get all the “ammo” together to fight, so I’m always looking for answers. It’s great to have others who have gone through this to rely on.
Thank you so much for doing this! It makes a huge difference to newbies!