As you all know, I received my first dose of velcade today. I now know how much people enjoy my analytical description of my treatment regimes (this is for you Patti Hallowell!) so here goes: blood work drawn, clinical trial coordinator pays a visit and explains once again what the routine will be, explains possible side effects, and invites questions, Dr. Rifkin conducts examination and I continue to look "beautiful", in his words, and then an IV, an antinausea drug, and a syringe full of velcade are given to me. A fifteen minute wait to make sure no adverse reaction and I get to go home, 1 1/4 hours after arriving. Not too bad. I return on Thursday for the second dose and will get 2 next week, then they analyze the blood and I get a week off before the second of four cycles begins. I didn't have many questions as Molly Johnston, the daughter of my good friend Gail, stopped by over the holidays and explained to all of us the cellular function of velcade and why it can be so good for myeloma patients. Molly has a degree in biology and is working in the research lab at National Jewish Hospital here in Denver. She had diagrams and velcade studies for us and even wrote everything out in laymen's terms for our nonscientific minds. Thank you Molly!
An interesting side note: one week ago I visited an herbalist on the recommendation of someone I met who has myeloma but claims he took it into remission after seeing this herbalist who prescribed a variety of herbs and vitamins. I purchased many such herbs on her recommendation and have diligently been taking them as prescribed this past week. I am feeling pretty good this week and have been able to resume my visits to the health club; I'm also over the crud. My white count today is 3.8, which is higher than it has been in more than a month and my neutrophil count is similarly up--both good signs. So I presented Dr. Rifkin with my list of herbs I'm taking and asked whether he thought I shouldn't be taking any of them. He says that since we don't know what they will do with the velcade I should stay away from them until we see how I respond to the velcade. We (Susan, Julia and I) are discussing whether I should follow that advice. I suspect they won't harm any positive results from the velcade but might wait a few weeks before resuming the herbal diet to see how I respond to the velcade. On the other hand, I am just as inclined to continue with them as I think they have helped restore my immune system function. Your thoughts will be appreciated.--but not necessarily followed--I always have been a contrarian.
Catherine returned to Boulder today and we miss her already, even though she will be visiting with us 2 or 3 times a week as she will be working part time at her new job in Cherry Creek. Julia returns to school this coming weekend and until then is planning numerous ski trips to our snow laden ski resorts. Susan continues to be the pillar of strength and hope for my continued health--when I returned home from the clinic today she had just completed saying a rosary for me. We all had a great holiday, laughed way too much, and enjoyed just being together.
Friends continue to show up on the blog, which always gives me a smile. I particularly loved hearing that one of my high school friends (yes, you Patti, once again) is teaching the daughter of another of my high school friends (that would be you Howie). Somehow it seems to me that justice would have been better served if Howie had, not only a sweet daughter, but also a son like himself to give him a bit of a challenge comparable to those challenges Howie gave his mom. On the other hand, nothing softens up us "tough guys" more than having a daughter or two to wrap us around their little fingers!
I continue to be optimistic for this coming year and extend my gratitude once again for all our many friends who have supported us through these past 10 months. My best to all of you. Love, Dan
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4 comments:
What a wonderful and beautiful post! Thanks for the update and the opportunity to reflect on your amazing strength and patience. I have no real opinion about the herbals, but I've never been a fan of western medicine. Will yours mess with the others? Sure, it's entirely possible. Is that a risk you want to take? You're the only one who can decide that. Medicine is educated guess work, nothing more, nothing less, which means that your doctors are treating you as THEY they should. Consider now treating yourself as YOU think you should.
Having just returned from Paris, in every pharmacy there were herbal medicines, and they were more prominent than the chemical meds. I'll let that speak for itself.
I'll call you when I get over the jet-lag and the exhaustion.
Be well, my friend.
Dear Dan & Susan,
Just want you to know that we think of you always and continue to pray and hope the best for you! Your news threw us for a loop but we, too, are again filled with good thoughts and are sending our positive vibes your way!
Thank you so much for sharing this journey with us!
Love,
Spike and Lynne
As a Virgo you know that I have to give my opinion. Also as a Virgo I am not prone to dabble in alternative remedies. I would pose that the rise in your numbers is due to the "CRUD." The immune system needs to be challenged and that is what the crud did, it jump started a system that was just sitting there musing about the benefits if herbal treatments. That said, I also think that healing has a great deal to do with our mental wellbeing and our sense of personal power over things, like bacteria and viruses. That sense gives us a boost when we are fighting the meanees. When all we had were home remedies, mostly herbs, we humans didn't do a very good job of keeping the crud and other things from wiping us out. So in the long run I will stick with western medicine, even though, "the cure is often worse than the bite." That statement probably grows out of some foul tasting herbal potion that one had to take when attacked by the crud.
I am really glad to hear that you are getting back to the gym, that you have begun the Velcade treatments and that you have had such a nice time with family and friends. The path is long but there are so many wonderful sites and experiences along the way.
Since Molly in not available for home visits there is a tremendously good video at the web site, listed below, that gives a very graphic explanation of the Velcade mechanism.
http://www.mlnm.com/clinicians/
oncology/velcade/mechanism.asp
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