07/16/08 – Dr. Visit & Status

Yesterday we went down to La Jolla for my monthly visit to Dr. Kipps to check on how I am doing. According to the good doctor I am doing fine. There are some issues that he can't explain, like why my red count was 12.5 when I started the treatment, then the next week it was 14.5, and then yesterday it was 12.9. I asked him if that was bad, that I seemed to be going back down again, and he said that he thought it was a combination of the 14.5 test being performed at another lab (not as good as his), and he even thought the test might have been wrong. He told us that the 12.9 number is where he actually expected me to be. I will do another blood test next week just to be safe. He did say that he thought that I was NOT hemolizing (killing off the red blood cells). He did say that my lymph glands and my spleen have both shrunk in size.

My white count, which no one seems to worry about, is at 52,900, and it was at 48,600 on the first day of the treatment. The higher count is not cause for alarm because the treatment causes the white cells to come out of hiding from the lymph glands and the spleen. Once in the blood stream the Rituxan attacks them and knocks them out. So there is some expectation that the WBC would be higher in the beginning, but then start to decrease.

Dr. Kipps was happy with the results so far, and is still confident that this treatment is working.

After the treatment I was out of commission for about 2 ½ days, which was expected by everyone but me. I have been slowly getting better, and right now feel about 95%. I even played golf and walked 18 holes, which is the first time I have walked since around last September.

My next adventure begins on July 28^th for my next 5 days of treatment. Assuming nothing major happens between now and then I won't have much to say until that happens.

Terry

 

 

07/04/08 – Happy 4th of July

I am so happy that this week is over. After 5 days of treatment, I am spent. I can say that the treatment went well and other than having a slight cough, gaining about 6 lbs, being a little irritable, suffering from slight heartburn, having no taste buds, having slight vision problems, and a little trouble sleeping, I am doing quite well. All of these side effects are temporary (or so I am told), and should disappear within a couple of days. I am still a little short on energy, but I am hoping that too shall return quickly.

The treatment went as expected and there were no complications or false starts. They were able to infuse the Rituxan at the full dose rate on days 3 and 4. This is probably because they gave me such a small dose on the first day, a larger dose the second day and the full doses on days 3 and 4. The Rituxan infusion probably took 3 ½ hours on those days; compared to the 11 ½ hours it took the first time I had it in October. Quite a difference.

On Thursday I did have an additional therapy added to help protect me from the possibility of infection. All of this treatment is not only treating the CLL and helping with the AIHA (anemia), but it also lowers my resistance to infection. To counter this, I am on 3 oral antibiotic prescription drugs, and on Thursday I had a nebulizer infusion of Pentamidine, which is a antibiotic that can be inhaled. On Friday I also got my bi-weekly dose of IVIG once again to help with infection and to help control the AIHA.

I will get a blood test next week just to make sure all the numbers are going in the right direction, but no one at La Jolla is very concerned about my numbers being out of whack. They seem EXTREMELY confident that this is going to have great results for me. I am praying that they are correct, but it is still hard not to worry about it.

It has been decided that I will now go on a monthly IVIG because they feel that the AIHA will now be under control. This means one less long day down in La Jolla every two weeks. My next visit to La Jolla is on July 15^th and will be just a blood test and a visit to Dr. Kipps. All indications are that this will be a short and sweet visit, and he will send me on my merry way. The next treatment will be the week of July 28^th- Aug 1^st, and should be the same treatment that I received this week. The last treatment will be August 25^th – Aug 29^th, and then I should be done with this go round.

All for now,

Terry