Happy New Year and Have Patience

 I thought I would give a brief update on how my clinical trial is going.  As a recap, I entered another (my fourth) Clinical Trial on October 7^th.  It is a new class of drug that is being tested by three different companies.  The fact that there are three companies competing for this particular class of drug points to them being on to something.  The clinical trial data for Phase 1 for 2 of these trials shows real promise for patients like me, that have poor prognostic markers and have been treated multiple times.  The average number of failed treatments in the Phase 1 trials was 4, since this is my 8^th, I fall on the high side of that number.  For those of you that like detail, it is a Bruton Tyrosine Kinase degrader. 

After 3 months on the trial, I can say that it ‘seems’ to be working.  It is not the slam dunk I thought it might be, but things are pointing in the right direction.  As my friend Herbert the Snail would always say “have patience, have patience”.  After my blood test and CT scan last week it shows there have been some improvement, even though it seems very slow to me.  Back in 2013 on my second clinical trial, it took me 3 ½ years to get my blood numbers into normal range, so I am using that as a positive point of reference.

I am on a monthly check up schedule for another 6 months, and then I go on a 6-month schedule for as long as the trial lasts.

I hope everyone had a good Christmas, New Years and all the other holidays.  We were fortunate to once again have all the grandkids here the week after Christmas.  It is so special to see them all play together especially since it doesn’t happen very often that they all see each other at the same time.

As a side note, I was interviewed for an article in a mainstream magazine this past fall and that interview will be published in the magazine in their February issue.  Hint, it is NOT a news or fashion magazine. 

Take Care

Terry