The summer chemo, that I had mentioned in August, failed to control my myeloma. I will soon start new chemo, actually a monclonal antibody called Daratumumab, in hopes of controlling the myeloma so that I can proceed towards the stem cell transplant.
Too Much Information
I had a bone marrow biopsy this past August. It showed a level of disease in my blood that was too great to give the transplant the best chance of success. The transplant was postponed and new chemo prescribed for the next three months in hopes of better controlling my myeloma. From September through November I would be taking Kyrolis, Pomalyst, and Dexamethasone.
Kyprolis hit me hard. My wife says it "kicked my butt!" with exhaustion, fatigue, and lack of energy for 2 to 3 days after second of each week's two Kyprolis infusions. In the end it didn't work!
After this round of months of Kyrolis, Pomalyst, and Dexamethasone, I again went to Baltimore for another attempt at the bone marrow biopsy. Before the biopsy my blood pressure was so high they said I would be at a great risk of a stroke, so they sent me home without taking the biopsy. Unfortunately, this was the day after receiving a bone builder Aredia, which can cause high blood pressure.
By then the chemo blood numbers after this round of chemo were available. They showed that the same pre-chemo high levels that were lowered over 3 months, had returned to high levels in one month. This chemo did not help me.
After a big Thanksgiving I caught a treatable, but serious, sinus infection on Black Friday.
The fast rise of blood numbers means I will have to have a new treatment, Daratumumab, when the sinus problem is resolved.
An easy path to transplant for me does not seem possible. But there are more novel drugs out there are even more in development. Wish me luck
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