different treatment?

[Guest guest]

For Dr. Furman... To review my past history--Dx. 6-01, stage 1, now stage 4. Unmutated, CD38+, ZAP70+, TRI-12. Age 70. In march 2007, I began tx. due to extreme pain in the spleen-ribcage area + difficulty breathing. Course 1--Flud. mono 5 rounds in march. Courses 2-4--Flud + Rit. 5 rounds each done in april, june, & sept. I skipped months due to fatigue etc. during this period. Results were OK. The spleen shrunk, maybe 30%. Enough to eliminate the spleen & ribcage pain considerably & breathing deeply was not laboured. The swollewn nodes all but disappeared in the neck & groin areas. Howevr the Cll regrouped for its latest onslaught on Dec. 31. The spleen & ribcage pain & breathlessness came on suddenly & intensely. I went to the Hospital emergency Dept. All tests re Heart, lungs, blood clots etc were ok. So I did a 5th seies of Flud. + Rit, 5 rounds from Jan. 2-7. Here are my current CBC #s. WBC 1.7, RBC 3.74, HG 11.8 Plts. 76 ANC. 1.29, ALC. 0.27. I had a Neulasta shot after this CBC, so I'm hoping my WBC & ANC #s have improved. Otherwise I'm disappointed with the above results due to the lack of even a partial remission. My Onc. seems to think these are normal results after this chemo regimen + his comment--"you have an aggressive disease". What think you? Do you recomend any other chemo /combo which might give me a longer part. rem & also improve my Plts. count. Any of your comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Hal Skye.