I need to make a clarification to my last blog. It seems that the aggressive chemo that I mentioned might not be for a while, if at all.
I was confused (couldn't imagine why) as to the timeline of my treatment. I will try to outline the the treatment (as best as I know it) for you below.
The first thing that you (and I) have to remember is that I have a disease that has no cure but is treatable. I have stage I Multiple Myeloma and as my doctor has said, there are a few different "camps" of thought processes on how to treat the disease.
He starts the patient out on Revlimid, Dexamethosone and Aspirin, and a drug called Velcade. Unfortunately, Velcade causes the patient to have numbness and tingling in the extremities (along with other side effects). As you know I already have that due to the tumor that was pressing on my spinal cord, so he has not put me on the Velcade yet but really wants me on it.
Velcade has 8 to 11 treatment cycles. Each cycle is 21 days. So it alone is about 7-8 months of treatments. So the faster I can get on it the better.
I then get re-assessed as to the next treatment, if any. Clinical trials have shown different results, from remission, to no progression, to still needing treatment.
It is then I would be treated with a chemo and a stem cell transplant. But, that is further down the road, a road I may never need to travel.
Our next step is to learn more about Velcade and its side effects and to see if it would interfere with my rehabilitation up to now. Either way we need to deal aggressively with the Multiple Myeloma.
That's it for now.
Keep up the prayers for us!!!
Jenny
Friday, August 15, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Update for August 12, 2008
We begin round two of the Revlimid today along with the steroid and aspirin. No bad side effects so far. We found out the elevated calcium last time was due to the Multiple Myeloma, not the Revlimid. Dr. Hadjenberg says I am doing very well.
What I did NOT realize is that I will be doing four rounds of the Revlimid, not three and he is anticipating an aggressive chemo after that. I asked him if it was probable that I would do the aggressive chemo round, loosing my hair and all that, and he said yes. This was a bit of news I had not anticipated. So, after round four of the Revlimid, I will get evaluated for the aggressive chemo.
He wants to see my physical therapy much improved ( don't we all) before he changes any treatment. The numbness in my legs is about the same, though I walk unassisted unless I go out. I use the cane more for self protection than for balance. The brace has been able to come off for a week and that is also a blessing. However, I have to ease into being without it 100%. When my back gets fatigued or achey, I put it back on. That will be the standard operating procedure I suppose until I can totally do without it.
The physical therapist I see once a month says our goal for this month is to be brace and cane free by my next appointment the beginning of September. No new exercises, just doing them now without the brace or cane.
Thanks for all the prayers. Ron is a rock, though I cannot say the same for me. That must be why he is a rock, so he can be my rock to lean on. Pray for him as well. I think sometimes the job of the caregiver is harder than the patient.
What I did NOT realize is that I will be doing four rounds of the Revlimid, not three and he is anticipating an aggressive chemo after that. I asked him if it was probable that I would do the aggressive chemo round, loosing my hair and all that, and he said yes. This was a bit of news I had not anticipated. So, after round four of the Revlimid, I will get evaluated for the aggressive chemo.
He wants to see my physical therapy much improved ( don't we all) before he changes any treatment. The numbness in my legs is about the same, though I walk unassisted unless I go out. I use the cane more for self protection than for balance. The brace has been able to come off for a week and that is also a blessing. However, I have to ease into being without it 100%. When my back gets fatigued or achey, I put it back on. That will be the standard operating procedure I suppose until I can totally do without it.
The physical therapist I see once a month says our goal for this month is to be brace and cane free by my next appointment the beginning of September. No new exercises, just doing them now without the brace or cane.
Thanks for all the prayers. Ron is a rock, though I cannot say the same for me. That must be why he is a rock, so he can be my rock to lean on. Pray for him as well. I think sometimes the job of the caregiver is harder than the patient.
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