For the past year, I experienced angina when I exert. My Myeloma doctors said that I should start taking up company with the cardio docs. I opted for the bypass operation to be done using the minimal invasion technique. That's where access to the heart is gotten by making a horizontal incision between the two ribs over the heart and spreading the ribs to get the heart out so it can be worked on. The usual operation requires a sternotomy, where the sternum is parted to provide access to the heart.
Chest pain is gone.
I'd like to say that nobody knows where they would be if they had done nothing to attack Myeloma or waited too long before starting a treatment program. We all know people who have not survived these kinds of treatments, but on balance, I feel that I would not be here writing this if I had not gotten into the transplant program. Transplants are probably not for everybody facing MM, but, I feel fortunate that the treatment has turned out favorably for me. It wasn't always that way, because it took me about 2 years, post transplant to overcome poor platelet production. This update is old, but it is included as an experience that I wish would happen to all Myeloma sufferers.