My Final Post
My father Phillip passed away yesterday in the hospital at the age of 75. His MDS progressed to AML in August of 2017. The man fought up until the last hour of his life. Blood transfusions and antibiotics bought him 2.5 years of extended life. However, hope was lost once the ARA-c and Hydrea medications failed to control his white blood cell count.
Hindsight indicates that we should have started treatment with an MDS center of excellence. I believe his condition deteriorated after each attempt with the hypomethylating agents, because additional gene mutations were discovered after each round. Instead, we bounced around to various local/regional centers and there was little that could be done due to his age and weakness.
I pray mankind will discover a cure for this disease soon. Targeted therapy looks promising. God bless this audience for your warm and thoughtful contributions to both patients and caregivers.
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