The much anticipated day finally arrived on February 5th, two weeks after the bone marrow test were done. It was a relief to get the results so we would know what we were dealing with. Dr. Young called my condition a form of blood disorders (cancer) known as Myelodysplastic Syndrome with Blast. (MDS)
(See these links for more on this condition:)
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/mds-mpd/HealthProfessional and
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/myelodysplastic-syndrome-causes-symptoms-treatment)
While my diagnosis could have been much worse, this was not good. She did her best to explain this condition in terms we could understand and also gave us some literature and a few good web sites to see and read on our own. Needless to say we were very unsure about all of this as it sounded scary. She did feel now that we had a firm diagnosis, we could pursue a course of treatment with an expected positive outcome. Her recommended plan was for me to begin a series of chemotherapy injections (shots) over a four month period, one week out of each month. The shot is with a drug called Vidaza.
(http://www.webmd.com/drugs/drug-90394-Vidaza+inj.aspx?drugid=90394&drugname=Vidaza+inj&source=1)
Basically, the treatments are administered every day with two injections given me at the JOA clinic, Monday through Sunday. That week constitutes the first of four cycles of treatment. Each Wednesday new blood tests will be conducted to evaluate if my blood levels have improved, or gotten worse. Consultations with Dr. Young we be done if needed and we begin the next weekly treatments the following month. We continue in this manner for the full four month course of treatments. Then another bone marrow biopsy will be done, the results of which will determine the next course of treatment, if needed.
We were given a schedule for the next two months beginning with the first treatments on Monday, February 17th, 2014.
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