Dad has Myelofibrosis. Myelofibrosis is a rare disease of the bone marrow in which collagen builds up fibrous scar tissue inside the marrow cavity. This is caused by the uncontrolled growth of a blood cell precursor, which results in the accumulation of scar tissue in bone marrow. Since the bone marrow is not able to make enough red blood cells, the spleen (and sometimes liver, I've read) tries compensate. This disease never goes away; in fact it gets worse over time. It shortens your life. However, there is no way to tell life expectancy. Could be 5 years...could be 20.
It seems, from my brief research, that there is some debate as to whether this is a cancer, a pre-cancer or not a cancer at all. I asked Shannon, my online friend who does cancer research, to check it out for me.
OK, so here are the treatment options his hematologist mentioned:
1) Stem Cell Transplant/Bone Marrow Transplant - not recommended at Dad's age
2) Blood transfusions every so often
3) Have you heard of Procrit? There is a newer drug called Aranesp that is an injection that you receive every 2 weeks that helps to build up the blood. This is what they are going to try with Dad for now.
They want Dad to go on permanent disability.
His spleen will stay enlarged, but they would like to avoid removing it. He should just avoid contact sports (that should be easy for him!) and take it easy in general, so that he does not fall or do anything to cause a rupture.
For now, Dad has to go to the hematologist's office weekly to get his blood count (hemoglobin count, specifically) measured. He goes every 2 weeks to get the Aranesp injection. And he sees the doctor in 4 weeks.
The good news in all this is that when he was admitted to the hospital, his hemoglobin count was 7. After the blood transfusion in the hospital, it was 12.5. Today it is 11.3, which the doctor says is encouraging because is is down way farther in a lot of patients after transfusions.
It seems, from my brief research, that there is some debate as to whether this is a cancer, a pre-cancer or not a cancer at all. I asked Shannon, my online friend who does cancer research, to check it out for me.
OK, so here are the treatment options his hematologist mentioned:
1) Stem Cell Transplant/Bone Marrow Transplant - not recommended at Dad's age
2) Blood transfusions every so often
3) Have you heard of Procrit? There is a newer drug called Aranesp that is an injection that you receive every 2 weeks that helps to build up the blood. This is what they are going to try with Dad for now.
They want Dad to go on permanent disability.
His spleen will stay enlarged, but they would like to avoid removing it. He should just avoid contact sports (that should be easy for him!) and take it easy in general, so that he does not fall or do anything to cause a rupture.
For now, Dad has to go to the hematologist's office weekly to get his blood count (hemoglobin count, specifically) measured. He goes every 2 weeks to get the Aranesp injection. And he sees the doctor in 4 weeks.
The good news in all this is that when he was admitted to the hospital, his hemoglobin count was 7. After the blood transfusion in the hospital, it was 12.5. Today it is 11.3, which the doctor says is encouraging because is is down way farther in a lot of patients after transfusions.
No comments:
Post a Comment