Larry, that has always been my thought, nothing with MM is usually an emergency unless you have serious symptoms. It is slow progressing giving you all the time you need to make more informed decisions. When I first got diagnosed they wanted to rush me into an SCT, because I was stage 3, but being asymptomatic and doing some homework I found that although my markers made me stage 3, I did not have kidney, anemia or bone issues so there really was no pressing rush to get to remission.

I have several lumps on my hands nothing to worry about I’ve been told.

AI’s Answer is the Best Reason to change to a Monitoring Only Protocol once a Blood Sample clonoSEQ is MRD Negative at 10 -6 (no cancer per million cells tested).

A very typical statement stated by Docs/Oncs/Specialists about MM is that “You’re far less likely to die from MM than from the Treatment Meds producing Serious Secondary Infections or Cancers, due to having a significantly weakened Immune System that can occur).

Take the Treatment Meds when MM Active. Recognize, via your Labs, that you may be in Remission and use the Blood Sample clonoSEQ to determine that it’s safe to Stop MM Meds, for a Monitoring Only Protocol.

MM is a Slow Acting Cancer. In 2022, my Johns Hopkins Specialist said: “Nothing would happen to me in 3 months that they couldn’t easily fix”. This was in response to my decision to Stop All Treatments for a Monitoring Only Protocol, after I had my first Blood Sample clonoSEQ that was MRD Negative at 10 -6.

I’m not saying this can work for everyone but I am saying “Trust your Labs and the Blood Sample clonoSEQ MRD Negative at 10 -6”.

I would also caution that the SCT or Car-T should be Kept in Reserve “for if all else fails” since their damage to the Bone Marrow’s Microbiome is a significant factor as to how well a person can recover to a Normal and Strong Immune System. It might take years, and possibly never quite completely again.

Hopefully it’s just a benign cyst - by all means have it checked

Joseph, I see a dermatologist yearly. I would have one look at the lump.