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Thanks, Sandy. How is your husband doing? I hope he is still feeling good as you earlier indicated. Are you still pursuing a "watch and wait" approach? It's really "unfair" to go through the pain of NHL and then have to face yet another complicated condition like MDS. When was Pete diagnosed with NHL? My Dad was first diagnosed in 1995 when he was 54 and went into a long remission (from 1996 to 2007). He had a recurrence last June and has been fighting that with chemo and radiation ever since. I think the NHL is in control (for now). Fortunately, my Dad (now 67) has a really positive outlook on life and does a good job of living life to its fullest. I think that helps him a lot.
In response to you last post, we do have a pathology report of my Dad's bone marrow that concludes that he has FAB-RA with few blasts (.8%) and no ringed sideroblasts. It's quite detailed (I have a copy of it, but a lot of it is hard to understand). His marrow was also sent at the same time for a Cytogenetic Analysis Report (to determine chromosome damage), but the report states: "the volume of specimen received was inadequate for our testing purposes..." So, as of now, we don't know about the chromosome abnormalities. I suspect that when we see the USC hematologist, she will do another bone marrow test and will receive new pathology and cytogenetic reports so we'll know more. But, for now, it looks like he does not have the exact same sub-type that your husband has (RARS), and we don't yet know about chromosome abnormalities. I would not be surprised if, as you say, he has some chromo-abnormalities. His doctor confirmed for us that his MDS is considered "high risk." (I asked him that specific question because I had read that "RA" MDS is one of the lower risk types to have, but according to the book "100 Questions and Answers about MDS," which I have found to be very informative, the FAB and WHO classification systems are really not valid for secondary MDS.)
The good news is that he had a transfusion on 6/25 and he still feels great today. Also, after two shots of Aranesp (he's due for another one next week), his platelets have come up from 29 to 42 and his hemoglobin has risen slightly. His WBC and RBC are generally just hanging in there. I am not sure if the Aranesp is responsible or not. Anyway, I'll keep you posted once we've seen the USC hematologist, hopefully week after next.
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