Tandem Allo Transplant

Hi Bren,

Welcome to the forum although I am sorry for the reason you had to post.

I had a tandem auto/allo transplant back in 2015/16. I think you are right, I think it is relatively rare and I have not come across many people who have done it.

Please feel free to ask any questions you might have as I’d be happy to help in any way I can.

All the best

Greg

I wondered how long you were in hospital for?  My husband was due for an auto SCT but now they are thinking about a tandem SCT.

Best wishes,

Samantha

Hi Samantha,

I was in hospital for a couple of weeks with each transplant. It may be longer if you get an infection but I was lucky not to get one. I had a a 3 month gap in between to allow me to recover from the first one.

I hope this helps and all the very best to you and your husband.

Greg

Hi Greg,

It's very helpful to speak to someone as we had not considered a tandem as a possibility. It is being recommended as Scott has high risk myeloma.

Did you get a good response at the time and have you had any maintenance therapy, as that is another thing for us to start thinking about?

Do you have any tips for coping with these proceedures? It seems like a very long time to be immunocompromised.

Best wishes,

Samantha

Hi Samantha,

I am glad that I can help in any small way. I did have a good response to induction therapy. I think that the medical teams try to get the patient to as good a remission as possible before doing the transplants as that can help achieve the longest possible remission.

I am not having any maintenance therapy and have not been treated for myeloma now for almost 4 years, although I do know some centres advise maintenance therapy, again because there is some evidence it results in longer remissions.

In terms of the process itself, I am not going to lie, it is tough, and with an allo there is every chance that Scott’s health will deteriorate before it gets better. It can be a long, slow process to recovery and so the psychological challenges can be tough. The practical advice I could give is to have as many distractions as possible whilst he is in hospital - electronic devices, books, even a hobby that he can do whilst in - I decided to write a book and it definitely helped. As to the mental battle, I just tried to remember that everything was temporary and I tried to remain focused on the reasons why I was doing the treatment. If Scott and you would find it helpful, there is a separate stem cell transplant group - Stem Cell Transplants for Blood Cancers - Forum and you may find people going through the process at the same time, which can be a great help. I am over 3 years since transplant now and the memory gets fuzzy such that there is much I don’t fully recall, which is a good thing and shows that life can go back to normal after the treatment.

Wishing you both all the very best

Greg

Hi Samatha / All,

Having started this thread with the wrong title I feel compelled to clarify. What my consultant said was, I'm high risk so a tandem auto transplant was his recommendation - is it the same with your husband? I understand Gregg had an Auto (his own cells), followed by a mini Allo (donor cells), but that is NOT on the table for me. 

I had enough cell harvested for the transplants last week, but have learned that there is no point in looking beyond the next appointment with MM. It really is one step at a time, see if you even get to the first transplant before worrying about what's next. Not easy to do at first, but that mindset will help preserve your sanity in the long run!

I am curious how they reached the conclusion that your husband was high risk. I had three separate high risk markers found when they did cytogenetics on the marrow they took from by biopsy. Was it the same for you?

If you are happy to share your progress on this thread, I'd be happy to keep the discussion going,

Either way, I wish nothing but the best to both of you.

Brend

Brendan.