I sure hope I'm not getting too far ahead of myself here, by extending a big thank you to Millenium Pharmaceuticals (MLNM), the makers of Velcade.
So far, Velcade is doing a great job of treating Edie's myeloma. All of Edie's counts are essentially back to normal, with the exception of some minor discrepancies, which I'm not going to fret over, and she has been off dialysis, since last Monday, October 15th.
Edie has been experiencing some peripheral neuropathy (PN) which has been causing her difficulty in opening containers, and even writing, so the doctor has decided it is best to cut back on the dosage from 1.3 mg/m2 to 1.0 mg/m2.
The recommendation by Millenium Pharmaceuticals, when the PN is that bad, is to eliminate the Velcade altogether, until the PN subsides, but we really didn't want to do that, since the Velcade seems to be doing such a good job, and her kidney function has not returned completely to normal (only enough to get off the dialysis).
So we mutually agreed to continue at the lower dosage, leaving the option opened to dropping the dosage even further to .7 mg/m2, or stopping it altogether should the PN not improve or get worse.
In the mean time, we're going to schedule another visit with the transplant specialist to discuss whether she can now be considered a candidate for a transplant.
So far, Velcade is doing a great job of treating Edie's myeloma. All of Edie's counts are essentially back to normal, with the exception of some minor discrepancies, which I'm not going to fret over, and she has been off dialysis, since last Monday, October 15th.
Edie has been experiencing some peripheral neuropathy (PN) which has been causing her difficulty in opening containers, and even writing, so the doctor has decided it is best to cut back on the dosage from 1.3 mg/m2 to 1.0 mg/m2.
The recommendation by Millenium Pharmaceuticals, when the PN is that bad, is to eliminate the Velcade altogether, until the PN subsides, but we really didn't want to do that, since the Velcade seems to be doing such a good job, and her kidney function has not returned completely to normal (only enough to get off the dialysis).
So we mutually agreed to continue at the lower dosage, leaving the option opened to dropping the dosage even further to .7 mg/m2, or stopping it altogether should the PN not improve or get worse.
In the mean time, we're going to schedule another visit with the transplant specialist to discuss whether she can now be considered a candidate for a transplant.
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Vreni