A Few Updates

I got an email from Natalie, the PA that works with Dr. Thompson (radiation oncologist) and one of my A of D's. She said the blood work done on Monday came back looking good, an indication that the NHL has not progressed. And, I talked to Tammy, RN at Dr. Ikeguchi's office, about the recent PET scan. She said the scan showed no changes, no new spots and no progression of the NHL at the affected site (neck). That's good, too! My thyroid medicine was delivered today by UPS from OU Nuclear Pharmacy. I have to start taking that tomorrow and every day for a few weeks. Thyroids tend to soak up radiation and are susceptible to damage from it. This medicine, Potassium Iodide, protects thyroids from radiation damage.

But wait, there's more! Dr. Selby returned my call from last week (he was on vacation). I called him to ask about a new drug recently approved by FDA for treatment of relapsed NHL, like mine. The brand name is Treanda, and I think the chemical name is betamustine hydrochloride. According to the article I read, the drug was approved in October for use in certain treatments for NHL. Dr. Selby is familiar with it but thinks the Bexxar has a better chance for success, so he wants to stick with that. That drug, he said, was developed in East Germany sometime during the Cold War. At that time, E. Germany didn't have access to cancer drugs used in the US so they developed their own, like this one. So, it's pretty old stuff. It's in the alkylating family of cancer drugs, similar to cyclophosphamide, that tends to have more harsh side effects. I had cyclophosphamide before. I'd prefer to stay away from it. There I go sounding like a MD again!