Quote:
Originally Posted by Janice M.
That is one of the reasons I was asking about A) does any of the treatments interfer with the success of the BMT and B) the timing of the transplant because as a fit, relatively younger, patient waits for the BMT, are they now at an increased risk. . . so when is the "tipping point" as I call it?
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Janice, the B part of your question is the classic Catch-22 that we all face! As Greg said, how doctors (and patients) respond to that dilemma is a very individual thing. I found Dr. Kalaycio's chart to be a pretty good quideline as to when the "tipping point" might be.
As for part A, on that same video there is a Q&A session with both Drs. Kalaycio and Maciejewski. Dr. M also had a chart, this one showing the effect of prior treatment on BMT. To summarize, those who respond to medication are actually in a better position to undergo a transplant than they would have been without treatment. On the other hand, those who don't respond tend to do worse than they would have done without the drugs. So it's another Catch-22. There are a lot of them in this game!