Guest guest Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 Hi Hans, Welcome to the Ariad Team! :-) We had a nickname over the summer, but I can't remember what it was. I specifically came to check my e-mail to see if you had either posted or sent me an e-mail. I've been thinking about you! So glad to hear that this option is open to you! I think you will find you are able to spend more time at home than you think that first month and the time will fly by. Good luck! I had my monthly appt. today. Labs are normal, heart is beating, etc. so Life Is Good. I did meet with the transplant coordinator at UCSF " just in case " I need it down the road, but I remain very optimistic I won't need it. Again, it is just my swinging on the 'ole trapeze of life with a safety net. Take care my CML friend! :-) Beth [ ] Visit with OHSU regarding Ariad trial  Hi all, First of all I'd like to thank everyone that gave me some great feedback and food for thought. I visited with Dr. Deininger yesterday, and brought along my good friend Tyler who had a BMT back in January. Tyler and I have actually known each other for almost 10 years, so it's a mixed blessing having such a close friend who has gone through it, although I wish he never would have had to go through the procedure. The net of it, is that I appear to be a good candidate for the study. He discussed the risks associated with it, and we went over in detail my options and what each drug may potentially hold for me. For example, upping my dosage on Sprycel may just push my numbers too low with limited results. So, given that I'm only 10 months since Diagnosis, Ariad may be a good fit. What is unknown, that since I haven't had any mutations show up on my report, we don't know what to expect. He didn't know of any specific patient that fit my profile exactly, that had a benefit, but I am willing to take this chance anyway. My CBC's are rock steady (a little low if anything) and I am feeling great, so I want to at least give this study a 3 month trial to see if we can get some cytogentic response. Since I would be entering the trial 'later' in the game, I would most likely start on 60 mg. They are currently evaluating going to 75 mg I believe for those in the first wave. So I would be a Portland resident for a month, but luckily the hospital is only 193 miles from our house, so I would be able to run up on day's off to see the family. The hardest is going to be away from my wife, and 2 little boys (3 year old and 7 month old). A special thanks to Beth, who posted her results and made me even aware that there was another option out there on the table. Without here I'd be knee deep in transplant discussions right now. And Bobby, I shared your results with him, and his eyes lit up when he heard your good results. You could tell he was happy for you and very encouraged with the drug results. We are going to continue lining up a donor, just in case. We are going down the route of getting my sisters tested, and if they are not a match, we hope that out of the 115 that are 6/6 match on the bone marrow registry, there will an even better match among them. Thanks again for all the insight, I look forward to continue to both learn from everyone, and share my experience to hopefully benefit others who are in a similar situation. Regards, Hans 12/2008 Diagnosed - Put on 400 mg Gleevec (20/20, 198/200, 15 pcr) 06/2009 6 Month BMA - (20/20, 150/200, 7 pcr) - Put on 100 mg Sprycel, no mtuations 09/2009 3 month BMA on Sprycel - (19/20, same fish/PCR) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Hi Hans, You will do great on Ariad. It's a good drug with no side effects, except low blood counts. And as Beth said, transplant is the Ace. You are young and have a lot of life ahead of you with those beautiful children. How fun!! God Bless, Jackie S. Ariad (6/13/09 ( I think) From: bethgalliart@... <bethgalliart@...> Subject: Re: [ ] Visit with OHSU regarding Ariad trial Date: Wednesday, October 7, 2009, 6:31 PM Hi Hans, Welcome to the Ariad Team! :-) We had a nickname over the summer, but I can't remember what it was. I specifically came to check my e-mail to see if you had either posted or sent me an e-mail. I've been thinking about you! So glad to hear that this option is open to you! I think you will find you are able to spend more time at home than you think that first month and the time will fly by. Good luck! I had my monthly appt. today. Labs are normal, heart is beating, etc. so Life Is Good. I did meet with the transplant coordinator at UCSF " just in case " I need it down the road, but I remain very optimistic I won't need it. Again, it is just my swinging on the 'ole trapeze of life with a safety net. Take care my CML friend! :-) Beth [ ] Visit with OHSU regarding Ariad trial Hi all, First of all I'd like to thank everyone that gave me some great feedback and food for thought. I visited with Dr. Deininger yesterday, and brought along my good friend Tyler who had a BMT back in January. Tyler and I have actually known each other for almost 10 years, so it's a mixed blessing having such a close friend who has gone through it, although I wish he never would have had to go through the procedure. The net of it, is that I appear to be a good candidate for the study. He discussed the risks associated with it, and we went over in detail my options and what each drug may potentially hold for me. For example, upping my dosage on Sprycel may just push my numbers too low with limited results. So, given that I'm only 10 months since Diagnosis, Ariad may be a good fit. What is unknown, that since I haven't had any mutations show up on my report, we don't know what to expect. He didn't know of any specific patient that fit my profile exactly, that had a benefit, but I am willing to take this chance anyway. My CBC's are rock steady (a little low if anything) and I am feeling great, so I want to at least give this study a 3 month trial to see if we can get some cytogentic response. Since I would be entering the trial 'later' in the game, I would most likely start on 60 mg. They are currently evaluating going to 75 mg I believe for those in the first wave. So I would be a Portland resident for a month, but luckily the hospital is only 193 miles from our house, so I would be able to run up on day's off to see the family. The hardest is going to be away from my wife, and 2 little boys (3 year old and 7 month old). A special thanks to Beth, who posted her results and made me even aware that there was another option out there on the table. Without here I'd be knee deep in transplant discussions right now. And Bobby, I shared your results with him, and his eyes lit up when he heard your good results. You could tell he was happy for you and very encouraged with the drug results. We are going to continue lining up a donor, just in case. We are going down the route of getting my sisters tested, and if they are not a match, we hope that out of the 115 that are 6/6 match on the bone marrow registry, there will an even better match among them. Thanks again for all the insight, I look forward to continue to both learn from everyone, and share my experience to hopefully benefit others who are in a similar situation. Regards, Hans 12/2008 Diagnosed - Put on 400 mg Gleevec (20/20, 198/200, 15 pcr) 06/2009 6 Month BMA - (20/20, 150/200, 7 pcr) - Put on 100 mg Sprycel, no mtuations 09/2009 3 month BMA on Sprycel - (19/20, same fish/PCR) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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