Welcome to Mayo Connect, @arthur333. It sounds like you’re in a little pickle right now with having platelets too low to be able to continue treatment. Multiple myeloma causes an overgrowth of cancerous plasma cells in your bone marrow. These cancerous cells can eventually crowd out the healthy cells in the bone marrow which can reduce your platelets and other blood numbers.

The Revolade you are/were taking is a medication which acts to help stimulate the production of platelet cells in the body. If you were taking the Revolade for two years, it may have helped initially to keep your platelet level higher. But the proliferation of the cancer plasma cells may have crowded them out. That’s why you were given the other medications to slow or stop the multiplying cancer cells.

It can become a bit tricky treating this condition because you’re taking medications to rid your body of cancerous cells so that your bone marrow can start producing healthy red/white and platelet cells again. However, the side effect from those meds is often a reduction in your all of blood cells for a while until they can regenerate. So whatever platelets you did have are also waning.

Your doctors may have you on a rest cycle right now without any medications. This will allow your bone marrow to recover and regenerate new blood cells again. You may see your numbers start to edge up over the next few weeks. I know you’re worried that the cancer cells will continue to grow too. But with the meds you were on, they should be reduced as well making it easier for your healthy cells to get a good start.

If all of your blood numbers are down this is called neutropenia and it can leave you feeling pretty low mentally and physically with fatigue and malaise. It can happen to all of us who undergo cancer treatments.

When is your next set of labs to check your blood numbers? Have you ever been given platelet infusions to keep your level up?