Question:
I was diagnosed yesterdday, August 28, 2003 with myeloma. I am NOTseeking treatment on this website--only suggestions. There are amaze of therapies both conventional and alternative, and if there issomething I should know about, I am hoping that you can help me.Thank you VERY MUCH in advance.

I am already on steroids as of last night, as the oncologist said thatthere is a rare chance that it can knock out the myeloma. And for someunknown reasons, dexamathosone, the steroid, sometimes destorys themyeloma.

I am 44, which is rare for myeloma, although patients are becomingincreasingly younger. At this time, I believe less than 3% of allpatients are less than 50. So, my chances may be better fortreatment, especially if I do what I can do now to fight it and keepan optimistic attitude.

I am getting a tranfusion on Friday. The blood, will, fortunately befrom my mother and two of my sisters. I do understand the screeningis very good for blood now where I live. Actually, I hope myrelative's blood passes the screening test! My hemoglobin is down to7 and my hematocrit is down to 20. I am not too weak, but I am notdoing much. The doctor feels that this tranfusion will avoid apossibly critical condition later.

I am only taking the steroids for four days, originally. Later, thisdoctor wants to give me thalidomide--the medicine that causes birthdefects.Fortunately, there are two newer medications made by the same companythat are more potent yet with fewer side effects. One has beenapproved as an orphaned drug and is on fast-track approval with theFDA, as of December 2002.

The oncologist also suggested I make an appointment with Cedars-Sinai,which I am in the process of doing. They apparently have the absolutebest myeloma program in the Western United States.

Before I take the thalidomide, or hopefully, its less toxic cousins, Iwould like to try an alternative therapy to build the immune system.The only one I have found that I like is the New Hope Cancer Clinic.They have MDs as well as naturopaths. I found this by chance on theinternet.

Although I believe alternative medicine is worth a try, some cancers,such as Hairy Cell Leukemia, my original diagnosis, are treated verysuccesfully with traditional medicine. I told these people flat-out Iwas only interested in an alternative clinic that accepts standardmedicine as well and had MDs on the staff. These people were veryreceptive and did not promise me any miracles. They are also in theU.S. I live in San Diego, and I speak Spanish passably, but I findthe idea of going to a clinic in Tijuana somewhat unnerving.

On the other hand, I find some of what the New Hope Clinic does asquestionable, such as colonic irrigation and beet-juice Vitamin Cinfusion. But I am more than willing to try it. They claimeverything they uses is non-toxic. I don't know, but I doubt it is anymore toxic than many types of chemotherapy. And much of what they doseems very, very valid--much more than what I have seen from otheralternative cancer clinics.

If you know of other alternative cancer clinics like this, please letme know. If you have any other suggestions, for traditional medicineor alternative medicine, please let me know.

I have no idea what caused the myeloma, if that is important.Although I painted apartments many, many years ago, only for twoyears, I doubt that caused it. I have had typical household exposureto chemicals. Unfortunately, at one point I drank way too much colafrom the Quiki-Mart (thanks Apu). And lastly, I have been usingwireless internet from Ricochet, available only in San Diego andDenver for the past 9 months.

This is equivalent to having a cell phone always on. And, even thoughI originally asked about a 10 ' USB cable, I used the short cable thatcame with the modem that sat on my floor.

The doctor said the research said cell phones do not cause anything,but the head doctor for this type of research quit in disgust. I amunsure, did get a 10'USB cable, put the internet wireless modemoutside my window on my window sill about 9 feet away, and will havecable internet in a few weeks.

Most of the research seems to show basically a long lifetimeaccumlation of toxins and/or radiation as a cause of myeloma. I alsospent too much sign in the sun unprotected. I have stopped this aswell as ingestion of any sodas. I am not on an organic or vegan dietyet. But I am willing to try whatever helps.

Answer: Getting ready to leave for a trip at 5 AM tomorrow so no time to do much ofa search till I get back next week. Meantime, you might be interested inthis general article:http://www.curetoday.com/tumor_types/myeloma/myeloma_02.htmlJust saw this Cure Today magazine at the surgeon's office today, and Ithought it was a nice publication. I think subscriptions are free to cancerpatients. They feature articles about conventional medicine and reputablealternative therapies that work in conjunction with the conventionaltreatments to give nutritional support, psychological benefits, etc.Cedars-Sinai is an excellent suggestion. You may be eligible for some of theclinical trials that are testing some exciting new therapies. I wouldn'tfret too much about causation---with a few rare exceptions, cancers are likebirth defects: while general hypotheses can be advanced about causation,trying to pinpoint what happened in a particular case is almost impossible,and even if you do, it doesn't impact treatment all that much.