Hey Roger:
My course was administered over 5 days. Each day started with an intervenes drip of 10 cc's of Ondansetron and 10 cc's of Dexamethasone mixed. These two drugs used together were to obviate nausea. They left the intervenes port in and injected Heprin to keep the port from clogging. Then the nurses injected subcutaneously two shots of Vidaza (75 mg each). Each day they changed the Vidaza injection to spread the soreness around.
I had almost no side-affects during the course week except constipation (solved with stool softener) an some soreness at the injection sites.
During the first weekend following I took a real dip in energy. So, the following Monday, I called and set up an appointment for a transfusion. Tuesday morning I went in for a type and match plus Complete Blood Count (CBC) and, low and behold, they sent me home. Why? My blood counts had actually gone up significantly!
Hemoglobin from 9.3 to 9.4 g/dL,
Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) from 814 to 1,100 and
Platelets from 176,000 to 201,000.
Needless to say, I went home with a smile on my face! By the end of week two I have better energy than before I started and I feel good.
Best of luck Roger. Keep us informed of you outcome.
Regards,
Ed (age 70, RCMD)
P.S. It took me a month or more to gain some understanding of MDS. To help others I am currently building a web site regarding one-man's-experience. Check it out at
http://www.ecomdevs.com/MDS_Symptoms.php and let me know what you think. All suggestions entertained.
