Medical Update

The main purposes of my blog were sharing and updating. With so many medical questions coming from many friends, I have decided to get serious (for a change) and explain in plain language what's going on with my treatments. This will save me from re-explaining to all. Whoever wants to know more, be my guest and just ask.
As we speak I am in a hospital in Boston and getting a blood transfusion which will take 5 hours. Thanks to free wireless and my old faithful laptop, I can do something productive (like work and write this update) instead of watching the red drops go down into my body.

The treatment for Multiple Myeloma has got a lot better in the last 3 years or so. The standard procedure is some kind of special chemotherapy in cycles. Each cycle spans over 21 days where I get 4 treatments over 12 days, then 10 days off. This is followed by another cycle and repeated. At the moment I am in the middle of cycle-2.
Each treatment consists of Velcade and other medications. The Velcade was developed in Boston and tested by the team in Dana Farber Cancer Institute where I am being treated. It is the only target medication that exists specifically for Myeloma.
It can't get better than that. The Velcade is administered in a hospital via IV while the other medications are taken at home (pills of many colors and shapes in quantity and order that you need an Excel file to manage the schedule...).
The whole process is a closed-loop operation. Meaning, based on each cycle's results, the medical team decides how to continue and the options are:
1. No change
2. Change mix
3. Change medications

The ultimate goal is to get into remission. It is quiet difficult to achieve that without a Stem Cell Transplant. With some of the experimental drugs (currently in phase-3 clinical trials) it has been achieved. However, in most cases, the stem cell transplant is required.
When the amount of the "bad cells" will get low enough thanks to the treatment cycles, stem cell transplant becomes possible.
The process is simple but somewhat risky:
1. Hospitalization for a few weeks in a bubble - complete isolation. I already asked - wireless works!!!
2. Drawing of stem cells from my own blood and putting this blood aside for later usage
3. Using aggressive chemotherapy completely eliminating the existing bone marrow and the immune system
4. Getting back my blood with good stem cells
5. Crossing everyone's fingers...

If all goes well, it is possible to achieve a remission shortly after this process. A typical remission in Myeloma is a few years.
Then, the cycle repeat itself.

So why am I getting the 3rd blood transfusion? Well, my red cell count is so low that the doctors don't really understand how I am live-and-kicking, driving, working, etc. Nevertheless, they don't want to take a chance and decided to give me a boost. So in a few hours when I drive home, I'll do so literally with New Blood!

This is it in simple terms. As you all know me well, I have read and studied the whole subject in great details, but for you my friends what I gave you is just about right.
Take care.
Yours, optimistic as usual,
Guy