[sandem01]

Hi everyone...
I don't post much, but I have been getting on here more often since my Dad has recently been getting sicker after being on Dacogen for a successful year and a half. It stopped working in March, so they put him on Vidaza for almost 5 months (I think?) and it wasn't working. He has gotten 3 or 4 transfusions in the last month or so. Even though he has gotten transfusions and his hgb increased (to about 8.0 at the most), he has been feeling lousy for the past 2 weeks. He has been dizzy, nauseated, has had a strange stomach ache and has fainted 3 times. This past Saturday (Aug. 11 - his birthday of all days) we took him to the emergency room because he felt so bad all he could do was lay down. At the ER, they said they suspected an infection and possibly a blood clot in his lungs, so they pumped him with antibiotics and put him in a room on the Oncology floor. They figured out he didn't have any blood clot or any thing wrong with his stomach - except for being constipated. He was sent back home today, even though he has no appetite and is still uneasy on his feet. My mom said his voice sounded stronger like he's more awake.

His oncologist called my mom on Thursday and said he wanted to try him on Revlimid (because he has another dr. friend trying this on another patient with good results). He won't get to start this until about a week (red tape with insurance). He is also going to see a bone marrow disease specialist for a second opinion (but we aren't dropping his current doctor). I think I read where Revlimid is used on patients with the 5q chromosome (I'm sure I don't have this right, lol)? Does this mean he probably has that same chromosome issue? I hope and pray the Revlimid works as good as Dacogen did for 1 1/2 years!
Thanks for reading,
Jill