Dear Ron,
Almost makes me wish I was there to hear you sing. Thru this forum I've
learned to pray, I've learned to sing & I've learned never to give up. Tho
a little cursing & for me a little crying sure does feel good sometimes.
I'm sorry the news wasn't better.
Barbara S.
----------
> From: HewRon <HewRon@aol.com>
> To: mol-cancer@lists.meds.com
> Subject: [MOL] The doc says (ugh)
> Date: Thursday, January 22, 1998 11:31 AM
>
> Well, here I am, more or less straight back from the doctor's and the
bone-
> marrow biopsy. He didn't have atavan and gave me valium instead, by
injection,
> which seemed to be not quite as effective, but still. Here I am at home,
the
> bone marrow has been taken, and I have had a blood test with absolutely
lousy
> results.
>
> My white cell count is back down to 2,000-plus. My platelets are just OK,
and
> my red cells are low too, accounting for my tiredness. Oddly enough, when
I
> asked for a print-out of the blood-test results, the doctor said it
wasn't
> quite ready and he'd get it to me later. He agrees with me that it is
> pointless to do more consolidation with Cytosar alone, and recognized the
> negative impact it had had on me (with such scant results), and though he
had
> me booked for the hospital next week (I would not have gone) he said we
would
> delay that until he has looked into the possibilities of Topotecan
(Hycamptan)
> for my condition, which right now is not really leukemia (more later on
that).
> He was thinking of combining Cytosar and Topotecan, and said he wanted
more
> time to look into Topotecan and we could discuss the situation next week.
>
> So, ladies and gentlemen, I am just about back where I started. And I
cannot
> say there has been any deception. When I went into consolidation he told
me
> the chances of success were one in three. However, the bone marrow has
not yet
> been examined, of course. Maybe there will be some positive indications.
He
> said we should have the results early next week, but I wouldn't be
surprised
> if he called me over the weekend with his own preliminary appraisal.
>
> Ye gods and little fishes, this is a pain in the butt. Or, yes, the hip
Carla.
> The procedure wasn't too bad, and I attempted to sing during the process.
In
> the past on such occasions I have mumbled jibberish or made religious
> statements. No kidding. This time I came out with "Sunday", the glorious
> choral piece from "Sunday in the Park With George", which hardly sounded
> glorious in my voice but it gave me something to do at the head end while
the
> action was taking place at the hip end.
>
> Now, dear friends, have any of you heard of this Topotecan or Hycamptan?
I
> think he said it had been used in the past for uterine or some other
cancer,
> but was now thought to have a healing effect on broken DNA, if I've got
it
> right. It has something to do with DNA anyway. Somehow Topotecan could
have a
> healing effect on those headed for leukemia. I definitely positively
> absolutely no-doubt-about-it do not want to go back into the hospital,
but, of
> course, if I have to I have to. I am hoping for something I can take
orally
> (or even in suppositories!). A vain hope, I'm sure. Anyhow I'd appreciate
any
> input I can get from you wonderful folk out there.
>
> As to the correct nomenclature for my condition, he told me that I really
do
> not have leukemia now, but I am not in remission. I have myelodisplasia,
which
> I have mentioned several times hereabouts. It means you are on the way to
> leukemia. Life gets tedious, don't it? (No I love life, but when you've
just
> got home from a blood analysis like that, well, you can be forgiven a few
sour
> remarks. So here goes another: @#%*&%!)
>
> Meantime, later on I'll go to the www and see what I can find there.
>
> Thank you for your attention. Over and out.
>
> God bless
>
> -- Ron
>
> PS It's a glorious day in Manhattan and it looked great from the taxi.
>
>
>
>
>
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