Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Chemo did NOT work ... Argh!

We got the results today that Gram's chemo did not work and the myeloma has progressed. All of her blood counts are low, creatinine is 1.3, free kappa/lambda ratio is 1138.33 (normal is 0.26 - 1.65) and her urine protein in total volume is 3150 (normal is 50 - 100). But she actually feels pretty good and has been able to see her grandkids over the past few days and week. Her pain has increased so she is moving to OxyCODONE HCI starting tomorrow morning. She is also starting a new chemo treatment of Revlimid and Dexamethasone. She will have the Revlimid 21 days in a row with the dex for 4 days then off 4 days then back on 4 days, etc. The good news is that all of her chemo is via a pill so now IV treatments. The bad news is that she has to go to MDA once a week for the next few months so that they can track her blood work and progress. If this treatment works then after a few months she will be able to limit her visits to once a month. So now we start the process of getting the Revlimid. You have to complete a phone survey and acknowledge all the possible side effects then they will overnight the drugs. We are confident that this treatment plan will work!!