Maybe the 3rd time typing this will be the charm.
Maybe the 3rd time typing this will be the charm.
I had my 3rd infusion on Thursday, and right after that my diahrrea went from controlled by Budesonine to having to add a 2 week course of Prednisone, to yesterday landing in the hospital. Long story short, after much Dilaudid, CT scan and IV stroids, I have colitis and am now on 60 mg. Pred. 2x/day in addition to the Budesonine. Tapering hasn't been discussed yet. Fourth infusion might be postponed if I get it at all. He did say that we were looking for an imminune response, and we definately got it. At least i have until week 16 to finish Yervoy, and 4th infusion is usually at week 10, so I have 6 weeks to get over this. Also really bland diet–that helps a lot.
I have stage IIIc unresectable mel. The areas that have mets large enough to qualify me for the new cohort of the BMS trial are on site on my scalp that was originally irradiated.So they don't count. From my scalp down my neck are mel satellite mets, but none of the "fresh" ones are big enough! Frustrating unless next PET scan shows more mel, which wouldn't be so good either.
So tomorrow I go back to Dr. Halpern so he can continue freezing and we will probably add aldera. I am insisting that leave the two largest mets alone to see if they grow large enough for the trial. Good news is that the tweezed eyebrows that are growing back in are white. Dr. Wolchok is very happy about that.
I know I'm hanging my hat on a trial and that's pretty crazy. I wonder if they continue to have good results on the Merck and BMS trias, how long it would take to get FDA approval? Can any of the more experienced members here even hazard a guess? A year, five, ten??
If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading. any input appreciated.
thanks,
karen
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