[DanL]

so i have completed six rounds of vidaza since August and just performed the third biopsy since then. we are waiting for the fish to come back next week before deciding whether to continue vidaza, take a break, or seek out additional treatments.

in the meantime, i have started the first of six to eight treatments with rituxan to combat refractory gvhd. i don't have severe gvhd in any one place, but i do have gvhd in several places and it seems to flare up periodically reassuring medication changes and steroids from time to time. rituxan has been used for refractory gvhd with some success from what i can tell, so here's to hoping for another success story.

you might be asking why do i need to get rid of the gvhd so badly if it is not too advanced. this is a great question, the primary answer being that it gives me more therapeutic options if i have another or stronger relapse. the consensus is that donor lymphocyte infusion would push any gvhd over the top and add a lot of risk if the gvhd is not fully under control prior to adding more potentially hostile donor cells.

fortunately rituxan is a pretty easy treatment on the scale of things and day one cycle one was a piece of cake.