One month And Doing Well

I thought I would write an update on my experience with Ibrutinib so far.  Just to recap: after 4 cycles of Fludarabine and 3 of Rituximab it was determined that my disease was resistant to this standard form of chemo known as F.R.  I was placed on a new drug called Ibrutinib (trade name Imbruvica) which is a targeted type of therapy and not chemotherapy. It is a BTK inhibitor which "starves" the B cancer cells of the type of protein they need to survive and as a result they begin to die.

Here is a neat little video on how the drug works.

It is very expensive. A month's supply costs about $ 10,000.00! Fortunately in Canada, as a qualified candidate the cost is paid 100% by our medicare system. The criteria to qualify is being resistant to Fludarabine.

The $ 10,000 miracle bottle

On November 8th I met with one of my hematologists: Dr. Cam Griffiths. Upon an examination he determined that my lymph nodes had shrunk considerably, more than after the last treatment of FR. Furthermore my blood work was good. My platelets (the little guys that help with clotting) were almost normal again. My lymphocytes and white blood cell counts were elevated but this is to be expected during the first few months on Ibrutinib. There isn't really a definitive scientific explanation other than a guess that as the malignant lymphocytes start dying (the desired effect called apoptosis) they gather temporally before being flushed out of my body.  Over all I am feeling pretty good! The doctors have given me a green light to carry on with Ibrutinib and increased  dosage to 3 capsules a day, the standard protocol. I have some minor side effects mostly relating to dehydration. I have compensated by drinking a lot more! If I do not, I get headaches.  The most notable change is that I no longer look like I have the mumps. If you look at my first few pages in this blog you'll see what I am talking about.

Here I am today. A leaner and not so mean fighting machine.

On another note Monique and I are looking after some friends' lovely but very anxious, elderly whippet. Out whippet has been friends since they were puppies.  He has high anxiety so hopefully our Henry who is the master of relaxation can tune him in.

Here they are together chilling out. Henry is on the right.

So it looks like I now have a new and much faster "machine" to carry on with my race to conquer this disease. Fasten your seat belts and come along for the ride.  Until next time, thanks for stopping by!