A Short Update

I feel pretty good this last week. I got the results of my blood test and so far all is well. I go in again tommorow for another one.

I’ve been feeling good enough to do some small jobs so thats a good thing. It would be depressing if I couldn’t do any thing at all.

My next apointment with my Oncolgist is next Wednesday. At that time I will have a better idea how I am progressing and whether the next month’s treatment will be the same as this month.
Maybe this will go into remission sonner rather than later.

One can only hope.

What a Difference a Day Can Make

We had stormy weather last night with some rain. I woke this morning feeling pretty good. It was a lot cooler which I preffer.
I went to get some blood work done and found that it was not until tommorow.

So I went home and decided I should try to do a small job that some one was waiting on.
It’s still quite stormy but no rain. The yard was sheltered so it was quit comfortable. The wind felt good and so did I. There is no rush on the job so I put in 3 hours and called it a day.
Time to treat myself to a cup of coffee. Thats one thing I’ve had to cut way back on. The caffeine doesn’t get along so well with some of the pills I’m taking. That’s a bummer.
If I feel good tommorow I’ll try to finish the job. If not, Friday.

I have a couple of other jobs that I’d like to get at before I start treatment again on the 7th of June.

And tommorows another day

Its Hot and Muggy

And I'm feeling hot and sluggy. It's been threatening thunder showers for two days. The air is close and humid and it makes me cranky.

Its been just over a week since I finished the first dose of chemo pills. I'm hoping it will be out of my system soon. The pharmacist says it can be a couple of weeks. I don't feel terrible, but I feel listless and little ambition. I have a couple of small jobs to do and I just don't seem to be able to get out and do them. The hot weather doesn't help. I'm not supposed to go out when its to hot.

Hopefully next week I'll have a bit more enegry. In 2 weeks I start over again. Another blood test tommorow. Don't have the results from the first one yet. Hopefully this week. It would be nice to know what changes there are, if any.

I've got a call in to my nurse. Maybe she'll have some info for me.

I’ve finished my first week

Of Fludarabene tablets. It was for 5 days. I still take antibiotic pills and pills to control uric acid for the month.
Generally the pills didn’t bother me to much. On the 5th day my stomach was a bit queasy but that could have been a combination of the pills and what I eat.
I’ve lost a few pounds which isn’t a bad thing as long as I don’t keep losing weight.
It appears that the glands on either side of my throat have subsided a bit. Also, the lymphs on my groin seem to have gone down a bit. I’m going to phone the nurse to see if this is a normal situation.
I had my first blood test today and will have one every week. My next appointment with my Oncologist is on June 7th. He will determine what my next month treatment will be and I will do it all over again.

I need to do a bit of work so I don’t become slugish. It’s pretty easy to lose your ambition.

I’ve got a couple of small jobs to do and its gardening time.

Fludarabine Compared With Chlorambucil As Primary Therapy For CLL

By Lynn Haley Special to DG News VANCOUVER, CANADA — March 18, 2001 –

Fludarabine has a greater response rate than chlorambucil for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, as well as a longer duration of remission and progression-free survival.

For the past 40 years, chlorambucil has been the treatment of choice for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most common leukemia seen in the western world.

The findings of a large randomized trial were presented in Vancouver, Canada, March 8th by Dr. Kanti Rai, one of the world’s leading authorities in the management of CLL. Dr. Rai, of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B of Chicago, Illinois, and lead author of the Intergroup study, presented the findings as part of the Berlex Canada Oncology Visiting Professor Program.

Between 1990 and 1994, researchers from several North American cancer institutes randomly assigned 509 previously untreated CLL patients to one of three treatments. These were intravenous fludarabine (25 mg/m2 for five days every 28 days), oral chlorambucil (40 mg/m2 every 28 days), or a combination of fludarabine (20 mg/m2 every 28 days) plus chlorambucil (20 mg/m2 every 28 days). Patients were evaluated monthly and those with an additional response continued to receive the assigned treatment for up to 12 cycles. Eligibility criteria were based on a diagnosis of CLL using National Institute of Cancer guidelines and included all high-risk patients, that is, those with stage III and IV disease, and all stage I and II patients, considered intermediate risk.

You can read the full report here