Options

Week Forty Two

October 19, 2013

This week I struggled.  The pieces of my heart that have spent the last three in a half years healing, are slowing ripping apart again.   Dad is sick.  We have options, but they don’t hold the same amount of hope as before; they all lead to the same outcome.  (Granted, the options we had three and a half years ago led to the same outcome, but it was much further down the road.)

Option #1:  Drugs.  He can take a concoction of drugs called RVD, which is made up of the drugs he has already taken, each one, one at a time.  The cancer has already overcome these drugs, but there is a slight chance that the drugs working together could work.  Slight chance.  He can try two other drugs (can’t remember names) that he has not taken and that could work for about 1-2 years.  There are two-three more drugs that are on the horizon, but have not yet passed drug regulation.  The question is do we used up these drug options now or save them for later, should he choose a third transplant and his body does not reject the new cells.

Option #2:  Research Trials.  Going to Mayo Clinic to get more information about the current trials going on.  Having access to drugs that could work but are not open to the public yet.

Option #3: Transplant #3. This time from a donor.  The outcome is not as high as if he used his own cells.  If his body rejects the donor’s cells it is the end.  As in no more options.  As in he will have days left to live.

So.  Here we are, stuck between a rock and a hard place.  He could decide the transplant and have his body reject the cells and could be gone in roughly 3-4 months from today.  Or his body could accept the cells and we have no idea on what kind of time frame we are looking at.  He could participate in a trial or take the drug options and have roughly 2 years left, assuming all goes well.

We have not made any decisions yet.  I’m pretty sure you know which direction I’m leaning toward.  But dad is seriously considering all of them.  We are going to Mayo Clinic sometime in the next few weeks to get more information about the different trials going on.  From there, we will weigh the options and make a decision.


UPDATE :: Everything changed on Monday.  But I left this original post because it shows what I was dealing with while I took this photo.  

On Monday, October 21st, dad had a meeting with a myeloma specialist at KU Med.  She said that the transplant is what you do when you have NO more options left.  (WHEW!!!)  She had a trial at KU, but said dad is too healthy for it.  She wasn't sure why he was referred to Mayo Clinic, but we may go just to see what they say.  So now it sounds like drugs will be the option we go.  We still have some things to discuss, but it is looking a little better.