Introduction
My name is Dennis. I am 52 years old. I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a cancer that involves the bone marrow, on October 13th, 2004. I have tried two treatments (dexamethasone/thalidomide and Velcade) so far, and there has been no response to either. Since there has been no response to these initial treatments, I am eligible (or more like, the only alternative left) is a stem cell transplant.
I will be starting the first part of a mini-allogeneic bone-marrow stem cell transplant (mini-allo for short) in less then a week. They call it a mini because the procedure uses less chemotherapy drugs the a standard transplant. However, a mini-allo is actually two transplants. The first transplant will involve collecting and transplanting my own bone-marrow stem cells. Then the second transplant will use stem cells from a doner.
The details of the actual process will be posted to this website as I go through each phase.