Friday, October 19, 2007

Starting Cycle 2

Today is the first day of Adrienne's second cycle of ABT-263. She'll take the drug orally for the next 14 days, take a week off, and then she'll have scans again. Overall, she's doing well but her fatigue has been really bad and she has some wheezing again. The doctor prescribed Ritalin for the fatigue. Yes, this is the drug given for ADHD but they also use it for fatigue in cancer patients. The wheezing is always a concern but isn't bothering her too much so we'll wait for the scans in three weeks to see what's going on in her lung.

We discussed Adrienne coming home in December and going back to CMC in the spring. If the ABT-263 is working, she can stay on the drug in Southern California. If not, she'll go on chemo until another drug, MGCD0103, becomes available. In early clinical trials, this drug has been very effective in patients like Adrienne with recurrent/refractory Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It probably won't be available for at least six months so chemo would be necessary in the interim. Right now, the drug is with the FDA and who knows how long that will take.

No comments: