Hi everyone!
It's been a very long time since I have posted so I thought I would give everyone an update! Lots of changes have been going on.
First I relocated to Santa Maria, California for my work. We love the place and its much nicer to come home from work rather than to a hotel!
Now, to my health.... I went to Cedars to see my bone marrow specialist. They typed me for my bone marrow and sent a kit off to my sister to get tested to see if she is a match. A bone marrow transplant is a last resort. If the chemo doesn’t work then I will have to have a transplant.
Last week I finally received the results of my PCR Able test. There are two tests that track the progress of my treatment. The FISH test, and the PCR Able. The FISH is about 1/10000 in terms of sensitivity, while the PCR is 1/100000. My FISH came up positive but my PCR came up negative on the three previous tests. This obviously doesn’t make sense.
Last week I received the results from a different lab for my PCR. Normal detects 0% of the cancer cells. Mine is 126%. According to my doctors I have a lot of cancer in my body. My doctor asked that I increase my chemo from 200 mg to 300 mgs immediately. The goal being to get me up to 400 mgs a day.
As you may remember in a previous post, when I started Gleevec at 400 I was a mess. I had to go back to the hospital because of the horrible side effects.
I have been taking 300 mgs for three days now and while it isn’t as bad as the first time, the side effects are pretty challenging. I can’t keep my eyes open after 7pm at night, the pain is so remarkable I can’t even explain it. Still have nausea, and I'm tired all of the time. There are more side effects, but those are the big ones.
I see my doctor next Friday again to re-evaluate. I'm hopeful that I can tough it out on this dose and make it up to 400 mgs. If my body can’t tolerate Gleevec there are two other drugs they can try.
That’s all for now! Need to get back to work!
Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers!
Love, Ryan
"Chemo-Sabi"
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Ry :)
ReplyDeleteYou are doing it brother and fighting this well, hang in there Karlie, totally feels your frustration,emotions and pain. She gives me courage to endure what minimal trials I face each day if she can fight at 6 yrs old then I have not a darn thing to complain about!!
Keep your head up ryan and dont be dicouraged its truly part of the fight and you are getting there one day at a time.I know this year you will beat this and it will be a good year for you :) We think of you and pray for you daily!!we will meet up sometime over the summer so you we can catch up!we are only a few hours away and love an excusse to go to the bay area and Beach :) Can Kelly or I be tested for bone marrow or only blood family?? we will test if we can we would do anything for you bro :)
lOTS OF lOVE, Taylor, Kelly and Girls
Ryan,
ReplyDeleteI have only met you once for about 2 minutes, but I have to tell you how amazed I am by your positive outlook on your life and this trial you are going through. Not only that, but you make me laugh i.e "CHEMO-SABI". We are praying for a quick recovery and hope that you and Jenifer are happy and safe.
Love,
Stacy (Jen's sister-in-law)
Thank you Stacy! I can choose to be positive, or I can choose to be negative. I'd rather have a positive attitude while going through this than to be mad at the world! It makes it easier to cope with!
ReplyDeleteTake care, Tell Dan and the family I said hi!