OK, here we go. Pretty heavy meeting on March 31. Quite a bit of information, all of it necessary to know in order to make an informed decision when the time comes. You may remember that my oncologist referred me to this doctor to get a second opinion as to whether treatment is necessary now, or continue "watchful waiting" or if a stem cell transplant should be done now. Glad to report (glad? Overjoyed is more like it) that Dr. Maziarz from the Oregon Health Science University is in agreement with Dr. Hehn, my oncologist, it's not necessary at this time. More good news is that I am young and healthy (don't laugh, in the Cancer world as far as stem cell transplants are concerned, 60 is young (75 is "old"), and even though I have MM, I am not displaying kidney function problems, and I have no bone lesions. That makes me a good candidate for the transplant.
The ugly news is that the treatment for MM prior to stem cell transplantation is between 9 and 12 months. Wow, go figure .... me, I get the cancer where treatment is a year; others, 6 weeks (LOL) In no way am I diminishing the hell cancer patients go through with the six week treatment - lived it with Tuck; was just kinda hoping that if I had to get cancer, one that gets "cured" in six weeks would have been nice.
Dr. Maziarz has done over 2,500 transplants and he's only 58 years old. He shared that he has been doing this for 30 years - if you're going to put your life in the hands of doctors, mine are the ones to go with, for sure. Am I scared? You bet I am - but like I said in a little note on FaceBook, they're gonna have to take me kicking and screaming!
The doctor shared with me two types of Staging methods - one I can't pronounce (should just look it up online, but I'm not gonna bore you with those details) and the other is the new and improved International method of staging. The new and improved version sucks....I'm at Stage II with that one, but Stage I on the older version. Guess which one I pick?? Ha Ha, no brainer. Dr. Maziarz also told me that he treats the individual, not numbers -- he has a patient who is at Stage III and is still NOT in treatment. He did have a bone lesion in his shoulder, which was radiated, is now gone. However, this man is not displaying any other symptoms, either.
The concern for me is that I am having symptoms, and my numbers are "creeping up". Time will tell, I suppose - it's the waiting that kills me, just like everyone else waiting for anything, I'm sure.
So, bottom line - Dr. Maziarz is now part of my cancer "team" and when Dr. Hehn does bloodwork, bone marrow biopsies, whatever; he will be relaying all the results to Dr. Maziarz, and the two of them will decide what's next for me and when. I am in good hands.
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