[Care.]

Hello Emma,

My Dad was first diagnosed with MDS in November 2015. He did only 4 cycles of Vidaza (December through March) and had a partial response (HGB and Platelets only), where he felt better and his HGB and Platelets continued to slowly increase into normal ranges from April through June. His BMB's in November 2015 and April 2016 both showed 5% blasts. (His WBC's and ANC remained low ever since being knocked down by the very first cycle of Vidaza.) By the end of June 2016, his platelets began to rapidly decrease. By mid-August his counts were RBC 2.27, HGB 7.5, HCT 22.5 and Platelets 82. He started Vidaza again September 12, with one 7-treatment (5,2,2) cycle, but could only tolerate 5-treatment cycles for October, November and December so far. Yesterday (1/23) he started his 9th (overall) cycle of Vidaza and the Oncologist is only committing to 5 days in this cycle. But my Dad's experience in his 7th cycle is very similar to your Mum's third cycle, where he required 2 units of platelets + 4 units of packed RBC's immediately following the cycle (finished the cycle on Friday and counts plummeted by Monday). So it wasn't until yesterday that I am seeing his ability to produce platelets is rebounding.

I have been tracking all of his CBC's since day 1. Going into yesterday, I was completely surprised that his HGB and Platelets looked as good as they did. Since September 2016, my Dad is heavily reliant on transfusions (2-3 units of packed RBC's/week + 1 unit of platelets/month). Because of yesterday's jump in counts, I am hopeful that these 9th and 10th cycles of Vidaza will show some improvement and put him on a good path again. However, I have to admit that I think stopping Vidaza after just 4 treatments, and when none of his counts were in the normal range at that time, was not the best decision; and am further discouraged by my Dad's inability to tolerate 7-treatment cycles and having to delay subsequent cycles an additional 1 to 2 weeks, because he's not rebounding within the normal 28-day cycle.

I sure hope the Vidaza helps your Mum to begin making platelets again, and that her WBC's and ANC remain strong going into her anticipated transplant!!

Care.