Today I had a visit with Dr. Kipps and the news I had
been expecting for about 2 months finally happened. It looks like I am beginning a new round of
treatment, maybe as soon as this week.
End of short report.
This has not come as a complete surprise. My numbers have been going the wrong way for
over 3 months, a month after I stopped the clinical trial. Today, Dr. Kipps took a long time in
reviewing all my data before he came in to see me. When he walked in, I told
him that this was not a good sign, and I immediately figured out what he was
going to say. Once again, he is
concerned that I will spiral out of control too quickly, and then my options
become limited.
As some of you remember, there was some glimmer of hope
that I could wind up getting the drug (Ibrutinib) that was on the other arm of
the trial. This appears NOT to be an
option. The drug company is pushing so
hard to get this approved for the general population (see BIG $$$$$), that
small matters, like taking care of those people who proved the value of their
drug by participating in a clinical trial, are pushed aside. I do understand rules and regulations making
sure that drugs are safe for people, but I don’t think the fault lies entirely
with the FDA. I think the drug company
should step up and take some moral responsibility for their role in this. I could devote an entire blog to this topic,
but I will save my venom for killing those nasty cancer cells.
Based on the fact that I have had Autoimmune Hemolytic
Anemia, and the fact that my prognostic and genetic markers make me a difficult
patient (no comments) to treat, Dr. Kipps is fairly certain that no treatment
using chemotherapy will ever be in the cards for me again. The protocol that I will be starting is using
two drugs, Revlimid, a pill, and Rituxan, an IV infused drug. The pills are given 21 of 28 days on a
monthly cycle, and the Rituxan, is given once a month. The length of treatment should be about 7
months, with a possibility of an extension depending on how I am doing. Revlimid is an immune-modulating drug, and
Rituxan is a monoclonal antibody.
Neither of which is chemotherapy.
Right now we are working on approval from the drug
company and from the Insurance company to determine my eligibility and the out
of pocket costs to me.
There are several other drugs that are close to beginning
clinical trials, which have shown very positive results. So if this doesn’t
work, there are still things in the wings that may fit the bill for me.
None of this news took away from a joyous event for the
Evans Family 2 weeks ago. Our son Jeff,
married his longtime girlfriend Kristen, in a beautiful ceremony. Family and friends gathered together to celebrate this memorable event. Since my diagnosis I have experienced 3
weddings and the birth of two grandchildren.
I thank God every day for the life he has extended to me and the fact
that I am healthy enough to enjoy all the blessings that he has bestowed on our
family.
For those of you that care, Crossroads was the name of a
song that was written by the famous blues guitarist Robert Johnson. It was made popular when the Cream (Clapton,
Baker, Bruce)recorded the song, and later became the name of a boxed set of
Eric Clapton songs from all of his groups, The
Yardbirds, John Mayall's Blues Breakers, Cream,
Blind
Faith, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
and Derek and the Dominos, as well as his solo
career. For some odd reason when I chose my blog title, that song came to mind. Don't ask me why...It was the 60's.
Terry
