My name is Snežana Doder and I´m from Serbia. When I talk about my journey, I compare it to a roller coaster. Everything happened very fast and unexpectedly. I had a very healthy lifestyle before and underwent regular medical checkups. I am certain that this is why I discovered everything just in time, or even earlier. I was diagnosed completely by accident. I had not experienced any symptoms. Still, I found out that I was a high-risk patient.

I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2021. It was discovered during a regular annual medical checkup, followed by surgery and radiation. After that, I looked for improvements in my nutrition. Luckily, I found a nutritionist and doctor in one. She noticed some minor irregularities in my blood test results (lower levels of red blood cells). Since my father had been diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) a few years earlier, she sent me to a haematologist for additional check-ups.

I was diagnosed with myeloma soon after and started treatment. In March 2022, I began the bortezomib, thalidomide and dexamethasone(VTD) protocol and had six cycles, followed by two tandem stem cell transplantations, the first one in January 2023 and the second in May 2023. My induction therapy overlapped with radiation treatment due to the first diagnosis.

In between two therapies, one at the Oncology Department in the morning, and the other at the Haematology Department in the afternoon, I organised everyday life activities, such as business meetings or, when I had more time, walking near the river, going for coffee or shopping with friends. I did not allow my diagnosis to completely determine my life. As the prognosis for high-risk patients is not very optimistic, I adopted a quote that I liked from the very beginning: “The diagnosis is up to the doctors and the prognosis is solely up to the patient.” Having in mind that we, as myeloma patients, are immunocompromised more than others, it was not possible for life to continue completely where it had stopped before diagnosis.

Considering that hanging out with friends, going to concerts and visiting the spa had been, kind of, my routine, it had to be adapted to the new circumstances. Especially after the second Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT), when a regular checkup with the haematologist showed that my response, to my surprise, was not as it was expected. Myeloma progressed even more after transplantation, and I had to continue with treatments. In Serbia, available treatment options are not as good as in the rest of Europe, and since I am a high-risk patient, maybe this was to be somewhat expected.

Even though I didn’t receive the best available treatment in first line, thanks to the reaction of my haematologists and referral to the special article in the law, I was allowed to continue treatment with one of the innovative therapies. I was suggested to continue with the daratumumab, lenalidomide and dexamethasone (DRd) protocol. Finally, I hope this will give a better response and I will continue with life from where I was stopped by the diagnosis.