Hello everyone, I am new to this forum so I’ll fill you in a little about myself. My my husband was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in May last year. He has just finished 4 months of Chemotherapy. In 3 weeks time he is due to start his autologous stem cell transplant. Unfortunately this will take place 35 miles from where we live and I am so worried I will not be able to visit very often because I don’t drive. Has anyone had any experience of problems like this. We are both mid seventies.
Hi Berni and a warm welcome to this corner of the Community although I am always sorry to see folks joining us. I am Mike and I help out around our various Blood Cancer groups.
I don’t have Myeloma but I was diagnosed way back in 1999 at 43 with a rare, incurable but treatable type of Low Grade NHL eventually reaching Stage 4a in late 2013 so although my Blood Cancer ‘type’ is different I do appreciate the challenges of this journey rather well…….. especially as I have had 2 Allo (donor) Stem Cell Transplants (SCT)
There are a few folks in this group but also a good number in our dedicated Stem cell transplant Support Group who are going through SCT, been through SCT or supported family on their SCT journey.
I could not have an Auto (autologous) SCT as I could not be put into remission to get clean Stem Cells to harvest so I fortunately had my brother was a perfect match so he went through the harvest for me.
We live in Inverness but both my SCTs were done in Glasgow….. a 7-8 hour (330miles) round trip drive so my wife moved into temporary accommodation that the hospital had for the 4 weeks for my first SCT then 7 weeks for my second…… but I have to say that I slept a lot during the process and at times my wife could have been on the other side of the world and I would have not been any the wiser - but face-time is a great tool.
I have talked with many people in their 70s who have been though an Auto SCT and some through an Allo SCT and they are doing great.
It’s hard but do-able ((hugs))
