My consultant has stated that she isn’t contemplating putting me forward for a stem cell transplant due to the fact I have atrial fibrillation. Recent echocardiogram shows there’s little if anything wrong with my heart just the afib.
The shock of my diagnosis put me in to afib for the longest time for me 20+ days.
I’ve been getting afib episodes every couple of months lasting 2-3 days max.
Is afib a reason not to be offered stem cell transplantation?
I appreciate the stem cell route can be quite brutal but if my heart is otherwise ok shouldn’t I be offered it?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Diane 123 and a very warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but sorry to hear about your joureny and the challenges you are having.
I am Mike and I help out around our various Blood Cancer groups. I don’t have Myeloma but for some context I was diagnosed way back in 1999 at 43 with a rare incurable but treatable type T-Cell Low-Grade Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma……. eventually reaching Stage 4a in late 2013 when a second, also rare fast growing type of T-Cell High-Grade Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma was presenting….. so although my Blood Cancer ‘type’ is different I most definitely appreciate the challenges of this journey rather well.
I especially know the challenges of Stem Cell Transplant (SCT) as I have had 2 Allogeneic (donour ) Stem Cell Transplants.......
Unfortunately existing heart conditions like A-Fib along with other health conditions can be seen as a stumbling block for going into SCT........ the high intensity Chemotherapy used to take the immune system down can have a significant effect on organs like the heart.......
I had no Chemo for my first SCT (June 2014) but this was very unusual as it's only used for my CTCL........ but as it did not work I had to have the full on Chemo for my second SCT (Oct 2015) and ended up in CCU a few times due to heart issues and eventually gifted me with A-Fib..... I had no heart issue going into SCT.
April 2022 I had a full on heart attack traced back to the damage that happened back in Oct 2015.
The Community is actually divided into dedicated Support Groups (Discussion Rooms) so can I recommend that you look to join and put up your own post in our dedicated Myeloma Support Group.
This group is a safe place to talk to others with a similar diagnosis, treatment experience, to ask questions and get support. To connect in with the group please click on the link below…….
……. and once the group page opens you will see a [Black - Click to Join - Banner] at the bottom of the page, click in this box and this will then confirm that you have joined the group.
You can then introduce yourself to the group by putting up your very own post by clicking [+ Create new post] or [+] in the top right of the group page.
You can copy and paste the text from this post into your new post.
Happy to chat more or I can pick up the conversation in the Myeloma group where you will find other who have been through SCT.
