I haven't posted in a month or so because it was just more of the same. In my last post I indicated that I was going to have Round 4 of the Rituxan and HDMP because Dr. Kipps felt like I was still showing signs of progress. So in mid November I had another 3 days of treatment. It went much like the previous three treatments and I think I may have even recovered quicker than before. We had scheduled a follow-up with Dr. Kipps in December, but after conferring with my case manager we decided there really wasn't any point in seeing him if I didn't have any major changes or issues. He couldn't really tell anything without doing a bone marrow biopsy, which has to be done two months after the last treatment. So we have the biopsy scheduled for Jan 13th and the follow-up with Dr. Kipps on Jan 26th.
Yesterday I had my monthly IVIG infusion, which takes about 3 hours. I also got my first blood test since my 3 day treatment in mid November. The numbers are looking very good. My white count has dropped to 7.6, which is not only the lowest it has been in over 10 years but also in NORMAL range. My hemoglobin remains stable at 14.9 so it appears that the anemia is under control as well. The big question is how long it will stay at those levels.
At my January appointment with Dr. Kipps, we will decide what follow-up treatment I should get. The options are many, so it will be interesting to see what he thinks will work the best. But once again I am on the 'wonder what to do when' roller coaster. It is hard to not be able to plan more than a month or two at a time. It was fortunate that the timing of the treatments has allowed me to travel to Seattle, attend my mother-in-law's 90th birthday party (actually 2 parties, sorry Bette), go to Las Vegas, and go to Palm Desert.
I also received some of the edited pictures from the Rituxan photo shoot. It is amazing what they can do with Photoshop (They didn't have to touch up Donna!).
