Hi Kim - since your Labs are normal you can choose the amount of Revlimid. It’s available in 5mg, 10mg, 15mg, and 25mg dosages. See if your Doc is good with 5mg. Typically it’s 21 days On and 7 days Off. There’s someone on the forum that’s talking Revlimid 3 days a week - not sure if it’s 3 On and 4 off or every other day. Lots of options - see if your Doc is good with a less is best approach. Plenty depends on your specific details but lobbying for yourself can go a long way.

All the Best

Great post Mother1980, you sound like a great myeloma specialist 👍😉

Some factors worth considering during your decision-making process…

Although studies have confirmed that all chemotherapy drugs have the potential for causing secondary cancers, the overall benefit observed in patients receiving maintenance Revlimid for the management of MM outweighs the secondary cancer risk with overall mortality, as a consequence being only 1 percent. More than one-third of all confirmed second malignancies are non-invasive, low-risk skin cancers.

Maintenance therapy may keep the cancer in remission longer and prevent a relapse. There’s no cure for MM, but it’s possible to keep the disease in remission long term and prolong your life.

In general, the longer the periods that patients undergo scans that show no evidence of disease, the better the prognosis. Shorter periods of no evidence of disease and early relapse are associated with a worse prognosis.

As the disease progresses, the remission periods typically become shorter and the disease more difficult to treat.

Relapsed MM might behave differently from the initial disease. During each round of treatment, the goal is to kill abnormal cells. When almost all the cancer cells are destroyed, patients may undergo tests that show no evidence of disease. If a small, undetectable amount of cells that were resistant to the applied treatment survive, they may continue to grow until the MM becomes detectable again. Because it grew from treatment-resistant cells, this relapsed MM will require new therapies.

Hope this information helps you make the best choice for you. 🙏

Donnie, don't delete it. Everyone has the right to choose and voice how they believe and what they think is best. I am just one person and I'm choosing what is best for me and what might be best for me, may not be for someone else. I've never liked doctors and that stems from things in my childhood. As for modern medicine, I prefer not to have to take them, I think most of us wishes we didn't. But no matter what I still feel like a $ sign when doctors see me these days...its just the way the system is.
I relish the day when we are all cured!🙂

I'm thinking that if an M-Spike shows up, it's time to take the meds. I've taken maintenance chemo ever since my transplant. The M-Spike stayed at zero for most of seven or so years. I'll take maintenance chemo from now on because mine is a high-risk form of MM. We've had to add another drug to the mix recently. But I think the M-Spike back down to zero. I'll know more about that at the end of this month.
I realize that a lot of money is being spent and made on these cancer treatments, but I am alive today because of them. And the truth is that the research required to develop new remedies is colossally expensive. They can't charge peanuts and have the wherewithal to develop new treatments.
Frankly, I distrust a lot of what sound to me like wild claims on the part of the makers of "natural" remedies and supplements. I'm not saying some of the products are not helpful. But I had a father-in-law who had nothing good to say about the modern medical establishment. And he must have been taking three dozen different herbs and supplements. I can't believe that was really good for him. But when he had a heart attack, he had to get a stint. When he developed diabetes, he had to take a medicine the doctor prescribed for him. He had to take medicine for high blood pressure. He, too, was alive because of the modern "medical industrial complex" he complained about so much.
Sorry . . . I know this entry just drips with bitterness! I may delete it later.