Hi, Sandy.
Welcome to Marrowforums. I hope you've had a chance to read some of the posts in the
MDS and
Transplants forums. As far as your husband's diagnosis, I think it is not unusual for abnormalities of chromosome 5 or 7 to show up in someone with secondary MDS following chemo for another cancer. Has his doctor talked about the possibility of trying a drug like
Revlimid before proceeding to transplant? In clinical trials, Revlimid was found to be very effective in controlling MDS in patients with 5q- syndrome.
I had a transplant years ago for MDS/RA and you can read my
story on this site. Keep in mind that my experience is almost 9 years old and newer technologies and drugs have improved the transplant process for many, many patients. Outcomes are better than they used to be and, particularly with mini-transplants, the process is not so hard on the patient and recoveries are quicker.
Let us know what questions you have. There are lots of folks here who can help.
Regards,
Ruth Cuadra