Twin Cities Regional Community Workshop Held

The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) and the Minneapolis Myloma Support Group hosted a workshop at Methodist Hospital, September 27, 2008. Doctor Angela Dispenzieri of Mayo Clinic gave a presentation titled "Myeloma 101," which took the group from the basic nature of myeloma through conventional therapy to the newest therapies and a few experimental ones. After lunch, Teresa Miceli, RN, BSN, from the IMF, spoke on the management of side effects of treatment. Questions were entertained during and after both talks, and the group asked a lot of questions.

Here are few of the subjects touched, in no particular order:

• Deletion of chromosome 13 is not always bad. Depending on the method by which it is detected, deletion-13 may be neutral.
• There is no clear information to suggest that maintenance therapy is preferable to no therapy, after remission is achieved or after a stem cell transplant (SCT), nor is there information suggesting the opposite. It's a personal decision, usually with no wrong answer.
• The death rate from autologous SCT is in the range of one percent, whereas the death rate from allogenic SCT is more like thirty percent.
• SCT does not normally cause neuropathy.
• Revlimid is much less likely to cause neuropathy than is thalidomide.

Helen Berg, who has been instrumental in organizing and promoting the Minneapolis Support Group since the beginning, was presented with a very well-deserved award for outstanding achievement. Congratulations Helen, and THANK YOU! You may be very proud of the work you have done.

The meeting included lunch, provided by the IMF. People came from as far away as Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Teresa Miceli expressed gratitude and appreciation especially for the caregivers in attendance, echoed by all of the survivors. Attendees came away with cool IMF t-shirts, myeloma literature, and other goodies.

Angela Dispenzieri, MD		Teresa Miceli, RN, BSN