Chemo
First off, Karl noticed that I have been spelling Myeloma incorrectly. I'm not sure if I can change the name of the blog post without starting from scratch. If any reader knows how, please let me know!
Back to the story.
Dr. Manning told Karl that all test results supported Dr. Vasanthan's diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma. MM can be either stage 1, 2, or 3. The patient's stage depends upon the level of progression of the cancer. If you want more info, check out Mutliple Myeloma Canada because they know far more than me. He wasn't able to tell us Karl's stage at that point because they were still waiting on the results of the bone marrow biopsy and some of the blood work. Some blood also went to the Mayo clinic for DNA testing. However, he knew Karl wasn't stage 3 because he didn't have elevated calcium in his blood or kidney damage.
Karl was slated to start round one of chemotherapy on Friday of that same week. He was also prescribed Lovenox, a subcutaneous injection blood thinner, to replace the oral blood thinner he had been taking in Clarenville, and Acyclovir, an antiviral he takes daily to prevent shingles. He had to learn to give himself the Lovenox injections, which he still gives to himself nightly.
During rounds 1 to 4 of chemo, Karl was taking what is commonly called CyBorD, which is composed of cyclophosphamide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone. He had to take 13 cyclophosphamide pills every Friday in the 28 day cycle, 10 dexamethasone every Friday in the cycle, a bortezomib injection the first 3 Fridays of the 28 day cycle, and zometa via IV on the third Friday of every 28 day cycle. This process meant going to St. John's 3 Fridays out of every 4. Zometa is not actually a chemo med, it was prescribed to treat a lesion in one of his vertebrae. Dexamethasone, which I'll call dex from now on because everyone on this MM journey calls it that, is a steroid which helps build his immune system after it is suppressed by the chemo drugs, and also helps offset some of the other side effects. Dex itself is difficult to deal with. Karl is literally swinging from the ceiling on Friday and Saturday, but by midday on Sunday it wears off and he crashes from lack of sleep the previous two days. He has sometimes had to take Zopiclone, a sleeping pill, when the dex effects have been too much to handle. He was also prescribed Metonia, an anti-nausea pill, which thankfully he has only had to take once. Thank God for small mercies! During rounds 1 to 4 he felt tired almost all of the time, but it was worse on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. His other major side effects were a burning mouth that was susceptible to sores, sensitivity to the sun, tingling and numbness in his fingers, and his white blood cell count was often quite low, which meant he had to avoid crowds and anyone who could be sick because his immune system was severely compromised.
Along with the chemo, Karl also had to have weekly blood tests, which were done in Clarenville. These tests gave us his progress because they documented the rise of his hemoglobin and the lowering of the 'bad proteins', which were the myeloma markers. The protein levels dropped by almost 25% after round 1, but then they levelled off, which wasn't good news. The good news we did get during the second of our monthly meetings with Dr. Manning was that the DNA sent to the Mayo Clinic came back as negative for a genetic component which would have made the cancer more difficult to treat. But, those pesky proteins didn't want to come down.
Next post : The new chemo for rounds 5 to 7
First off, Karl noticed that I have been spelling Myeloma incorrectly. I'm not sure if I can change the name of the blog post without starting from scratch. If any reader knows how, please let me know!
Back to the story.
Dr. Manning told Karl that all test results supported Dr. Vasanthan's diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma. MM can be either stage 1, 2, or 3. The patient's stage depends upon the level of progression of the cancer. If you want more info, check out Mutliple Myeloma Canada because they know far more than me. He wasn't able to tell us Karl's stage at that point because they were still waiting on the results of the bone marrow biopsy and some of the blood work. Some blood also went to the Mayo clinic for DNA testing. However, he knew Karl wasn't stage 3 because he didn't have elevated calcium in his blood or kidney damage.
Karl was slated to start round one of chemotherapy on Friday of that same week. He was also prescribed Lovenox, a subcutaneous injection blood thinner, to replace the oral blood thinner he had been taking in Clarenville, and Acyclovir, an antiviral he takes daily to prevent shingles. He had to learn to give himself the Lovenox injections, which he still gives to himself nightly.
During rounds 1 to 4 of chemo, Karl was taking what is commonly called CyBorD, which is composed of cyclophosphamide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone. He had to take 13 cyclophosphamide pills every Friday in the 28 day cycle, 10 dexamethasone every Friday in the cycle, a bortezomib injection the first 3 Fridays of the 28 day cycle, and zometa via IV on the third Friday of every 28 day cycle. This process meant going to St. John's 3 Fridays out of every 4. Zometa is not actually a chemo med, it was prescribed to treat a lesion in one of his vertebrae. Dexamethasone, which I'll call dex from now on because everyone on this MM journey calls it that, is a steroid which helps build his immune system after it is suppressed by the chemo drugs, and also helps offset some of the other side effects. Dex itself is difficult to deal with. Karl is literally swinging from the ceiling on Friday and Saturday, but by midday on Sunday it wears off and he crashes from lack of sleep the previous two days. He has sometimes had to take Zopiclone, a sleeping pill, when the dex effects have been too much to handle. He was also prescribed Metonia, an anti-nausea pill, which thankfully he has only had to take once. Thank God for small mercies! During rounds 1 to 4 he felt tired almost all of the time, but it was worse on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. His other major side effects were a burning mouth that was susceptible to sores, sensitivity to the sun, tingling and numbness in his fingers, and his white blood cell count was often quite low, which meant he had to avoid crowds and anyone who could be sick because his immune system was severely compromised.
Along with the chemo, Karl also had to have weekly blood tests, which were done in Clarenville. These tests gave us his progress because they documented the rise of his hemoglobin and the lowering of the 'bad proteins', which were the myeloma markers. The protein levels dropped by almost 25% after round 1, but then they levelled off, which wasn't good news. The good news we did get during the second of our monthly meetings with Dr. Manning was that the DNA sent to the Mayo Clinic came back as negative for a genetic component which would have made the cancer more difficult to treat. But, those pesky proteins didn't want to come down.
Next post : The new chemo for rounds 5 to 7
When I was released from hospital, they had taken care of the pneumonia and blood clots, so I was starting to feel much better. Chemotherapy started the Friday after I saw my Hematologist. Each week, before the hospital will administer me chemo medications, I would have to get "pass marks" on a blood tests. Once you fully accept the fact that you have cancer, these drugs sort of become your lifeline. If my levels weren't up, I wouldn't get my treatment.
ReplyDeleteWhen you google the Chemo drugs, you really get an appreciation for side effects; and they all contradict each other. Diarrhea and constipation; drowsiness, tiredness, fatigue, insomnia and restlessness; all over the place. Mine were a compromised immune system, disrupted bowels, tiredness and fatigue, difficulty sleeping, inflamed mouth, reduced taste and smell, and a touch of neuropathy.
Overall, they were relatively mild compared to my expectations. I was expecting to be sick in bed for at least half of my treatment, with bouts of infections, illnesses and nausea; that wasn't the case. While I was tired, I could push myself to do things around the house if I really had to, I did and my endurance seemed to improve as the treatments went on and the Myeloma levels improved. I almost felt that I could have handled higher doses if it would have eliminated more Myeloma cells and increased the success rate with the stem cell treatment.
ALL THANKS TO DR WILLIAMS WITH HIS HERB MY WIFE WAS COMPLETELY CURED FROM MYELOMA
ReplyDeleteIs my pleasure to comment on this site and i thank the admin of this site for his/her great work so far.one of the happiest moment in my life was when the doctor confirm that my wife is been free from this illness. this awesome moments makes me the happiest man on earth, I really don't know how to thank DR WILLIAMS for helping my wife get cured for over how many year of suffering from myeloma. i came across DR Williams contact through a headline news on internet about how DR Williams help a woman to get cured of her myeloma and so many other with similar body problem ,i contacted him and he told me how to get his herb,few day later he sent me the herbal portion which my wife take every morning for 28 days, and his medicine was able to cure her completely from myeloma. and now she very mush okay without any side effects whatsoever, If you have myeloma , you can contact him on his email address drwilliams098675@gmail.com for advice and for his product.
ALL THANKS TO DR WILLIAMS
ReplyDeleteI was diagnosed of myeloma in 2011, I have tried all possible means to get cure but all my effort proved abortive, until a friend of mine introduced me to a herbal doctor , who prepare herbal medicine to cure different kind of diseases including myeloma , when i contacted this herbal doctor via his email, he sent me the myeloma herbal medicine via courier service, when i received the herbal medicine he gave me step by step instructions on how to apply it, when i applied it as instructed by Dr Williams i was totally cured from this disease within 1 months of usage. any body with similar problem can Contact this great herbal doctor via his email drwilliams098675@gmail.com for advice and for his product,and thanks to you admin for such an informative blog.