Posted by Tyler I wanted to write a quick update to just follow up on how things are going with the Graft v. Host Disease and make some amendments to my previous post. I am in the hospital again at the University of Michigan after being admitted a week ago on account of GVHD. In my last post I said that it was a reaction of Vanessa's cells against mine because of the recent injection of her killer cells (DLI), but that's not really true. It turns out that GVHD resulting from the DLI doesn't occur until later, significantly later than 2 days anyhow. It turns out that I have symptoms of both Acute and Chronic Graft v. Host Disease from my second transplant on the 5th of November. At the time of my last post the disease was very evident in my eyes, throat, skin, liver, and gut. When I was hospitalized, the doctors immediately put me on steroids to combat the GVHD; and the goose bumbs, rash, uvulitis, and dry mouth have almost completely cleared up now. The most serious and slowest symptom to leave is the gut cramping that I've been having. I'm on pain medication for it, and I'm on a strictly clear liquid diet, receiving important nutrients through an IV. It's been frustrating not being allowed to eat, because the steroids boost my hunger, and I constantly want to have real food, but I need to give my gut and intestines time to heal before I can begin eating normal foods again or anything at all for that matter. The doctors told me that I've had a sufficient amount of GVHD (grade 2 out of 4) to fight off remaining leukemic cells in the marrow. If the cancer were to relapse now, it would more than likely not happen in the bone marrow, so that is some good news. Along with the steroid I was put on, I began taking a study drug called Enbrel which is supposed to aid the steroids in fighting off the GVHD. I qualified for the research study after an excruciating lip biopsy showed GVHD in my mouth. We won't get too much into those details. So far the new drug has been impressive in fighting off Graft v. Host Disease symptoms in the other 17 patients who have participated in the study. Furthermore, the doctors informed me that the experimental mice who are on Enbrel are the happy ones, so that's also very reassuring. Ok, I believe that is everything for now. I have my 3rd of a series of 6 bone marrow biopsies on Monday. I can't believe it's been four weeks already since the last one. I'll more than likely have results for you a week and a half after the biopsy. Until then, thank you for checking up on me, Tyler
on 1/23/2003, 1:31 pm
Message modified by board administrator 1/30/2003, 11:20 pm
Hey there,
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