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It seems like the doctors are often in more of a hurry to re-treat or move on to the next treatment than the patients are, at least those of us who have talked to other patients. When Ken had his first ATG the doctor said that if he didn't see any sign of improvement within one month, he wanted to give him a second round. We wanted to wait, having heard from others that it can take 3-6 months, or even more. He had his last transfusion 10 weeks after treatment.
In fairness to the doctor, his reasoning was that if a second round could be given within a month of the first, the two would create a cummulative effect which would be lost if we waited longer. That may be true, but one month is really too early to tell. He ended up getting a second round after a relapse, and this time they gave him double the amount and he responded twice as fast (5 weeks). Still, it has been a long slow process. Nearly 4 years later, his counts continue to creep up, but they're all within a safe range, so it's not a big concern.
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-Lisa, husband Ken age 60 dx SAA 7/04, dx hypo MDS 1/06 w/finding of trisomy 8; 2 ATGs, partial remission, still using cyclosporine
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