MD

[Guest guest]

I too relapsed with enlarged nodes. I had prior Fludarabine and and Rituxan

that put me into a quick but short lived remission 2 years ago. I went to

MD and Saw Dr Keating in September. He has a new clinical Trial with

Rituxan, Fludarabine, Cytoxin AND Mitoxatrone. I began the trial in Sept

and just completed my 2nd course here in Florida. Shortly after the first

course, my nodes all visibly disappeared. And they were some big ones around

my

neck, collar and underarms. For the amount of poison I have been injected

with, I have tolerated it pretty well. I feel lousy for a few days after each

round but nothing that cant be lived with. Anyhow, good luck with your

decision.

Tony

[Guest guest]

Barb - the folks at MDA will tell you what to do - Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car listings at AOL Autos.

[Guest guest]

I just returned Thurday night from my trip to MD . It was quite an

experience. I stayed at the Rotary House and it was so convenient. I

appreciated all of the information and advice I received from all of you. You

were so right about the waiting. I'm glad I had a book.

I had all of my tests and appointments on Monday and it took from 8:00 a.m.

until 4:00 p.m. to finish my registration, meeting with the nurse, bloodwork,

BMA/BMB and appointment with Dr. Cortes. There was at least a two hour wait at

almost everywhere I went. I must say that my appointment with Dr. Cortes went

well and he was actually very patient with me and spent time answering my

questions and concerns. I'm now waiting to see if the PCR and BMB tests show

the same undectable reading as my tests here at home. Dr. Cortes has said if

that is the case he would recommend reducing my Sprycel dose to 40 mg daily or

even 20 mg daily if needed to help with the fatigue. So I'm hoping that will be

the case. The only concern was that I may be showing some signs of congestive

heart failure. I am going to set-up an echocardiogram and meet with a

cardiologist here at home since there was not enough time to get it scheduled

during my trip to MD . Has anyone else on Sprycel had any issues with

Congestive heart failure. I'm hoping the echo doesn't show any problems.

The best part of the whole experience was meeting with two other CMLers. I was

in touch with Jackie S. who is at MD starting the Ariad trial and

Rhonda (also on Sprycel) who lives in Houston and goes to MD for her

care. Rhonda served as our hostess and picked Jackie and I up to go to dinner

and a tea room. We had a great time talking about our similar experiences with

CML, the meds and side effects and shared alot about our personal lives. Rhonda

and Jackie are so easy to talk to and terrific people. After dinner we went

back to Rhonda's and joined Zavie, Tracey and on the Tuesday night CML

chat. There's just not better people than our group of CML survivors. Thank

you to Rhonda and Jackie for a super evening. Also good luck to Jackie in the

Ariad trial.

Patti