Well, I started Iclusig (Ponatinib). The warnings and cautions seem to escalate with each new drug I take. This one is the scariest of all, by far. Not scarier than untreated leukemia, though. I read through the package insert provided with my meds. Lots of not good things, and dire warnings. Then I folded the info sheet back up, threw it in the trash, and swallowed my first two pills. I've been swallowing them for a little over five weeks now. So far a few oddities...dry peeling skin on my face (weird), middle toe numbness for several days, freezing bum (don't know if it's related, but it's persistent - may just be the season changing), some bone pain. None of the big scary's though, so I'm doing good.
Did you hear that? I said I'm doing good. I whispered it, actually. I'm afraid to shout it from the rooftops yet, but so far, according to the blood work that I've had done (just regular monitoring, no cancer testing yet) many of my blood counts seem to be improving. Hemoglobin - up. No recent transfusions for me. White blood cell count - up. Just finally breaking into the "normal" range. Platelets - sucky. But the same sucky that they have been for the past year and more. Two out of three? I'll take it.
No news yet on if Ponatinib is working to reduce the leukemia cells. Testing in a couple of weeks, so time will tell, I guess. I do guess, and hope and pray, and whisper. But I don't shout it out. Not yet. I'm not tempting fate.
Rachael,
ReplyDeleteI posted a comment in July. Hope you saw it.
My wife had her stem cell transplant and is doing well.
It's been since February when the cancer reared it's ugly head for the first time.
She now is on the upswing and all her numbers are approaching normal. Maybe a month or so till normal. The worst part of her treatment is where they hit her as hard as they could with chemo. Her worst side effects were the mouth and throat sores. She is just getting to the point of eating normal food. Still lots of restrictions, but on the upswing. I would encourage you to visit Northwestern Medicine in Chicago and maybe they could get this terrible stuff behind you for good. Their goal is cure. So far it looks good for her. Hope things go well for you. Fred