July 11th, 2005

First of all, many of you have contacted me to say you are praying or with words of encouragement. Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement. Your prayers mean a lot to me and God hears them. I have been continually amazed at how I have affected people and how other people have affected me. One never knows the lives one touches until something out of the ordinary brings it to light. I am thankful that God has chosen to allow me to share life with you all for a while longer.

It has been over 8 months since I was first diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. I am still doing very well, according to the oncologist and all other indications. Since my last post I have been continuing on the Gleevec treatment with great results. In April, my daily dosage was raised from 400mg to 600mg. In June my daily dosage was raised from 600mg to 800mg. These dosage changes were prompted by my ability to tolerate the medicine very well and because the doctors are getting back good long term results from the first patients on higher dosages of Gleevec. Both times when my dosage was increased my blood counts temporarily dipped and then went back to their previous levels in a few weeks. Both times when my dosage was increased the Gleevec caused more stomach upset and overall sick feeling. Those symptoms settled back down in a few weeks. I still experience muscle cramping and some mild “punky” feeling, but overall the side effects have been quite tolerable.

My energy level has been relatively lower at the elevated dosages. I used to start going at 5:30am and quit at 12:00am. Now I get up at 6:30am, but even at a reduced rate of effort, my energy is pretty much sapped by 7:00pm and I’m ready for bed by 9:30pm. Slowing down has been a very hard thing for me to get used to. Again, I don’t know how much slowing down is age related and how much is medicine or disease related.

On July 18th I’m scheduled to go back for a second BCR Able test. This is the test that measured the percentage of leukemic white cells to normal white cells. The first BCR Able test I had after three months of treatment showed a reduction of 1 log leukemic cells. I am curious to see the results of the test on the 18th. My prognosis is good when you look at the success rate of the 3600 people using Gleevec for about 48 months now. I am responding well so it makes sense (God willing) that I will have long term success over the CML.

Here is an article about the effectiveness of Gleevec.on patients tested so far: Oncology - Leukemia News

Thanks again for your prayers.