@callie28 , @judithc I hope to give you a little information and/or encouragement with my husbands story.
He was diagnosed in spring of 2010, the first transplant at Mayo Rochester left him with a little residual disease. So they gave his body a few more months to recover and as the myeloma reared up, he went on a second induction therapy of 4 months, and back to transplant. By this time he was 70 but overall still in pretty good shape. This transplant was much harder on him, although the first wasn’t really easy. Again the Mayo team were rock stars in knowing what to expect and handling it.
This time he got a complete response, revlomid maintenance was recommended and he took that for two years.
He has had a few years at a time completely treatment free, and plenty of months of treatment that weren’t really easy, but not horrible. He will soon reach 13 years with myeloma, I believe this might have been an easier time had he been diagnosed earlier. He had bone lesions in virtually every bone when diagnosed. I believe his Mayo team and our most awesome Mayo trained doctor locally, have helped give us the gift of the last 13 years together.
If you have any questions for me, please feel free to tag me.
@judithc where do think you might be looking to have transplant?