Start of V's treatment.

Hello everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know that Venita has now officially started her in-patient treatment. There has been a major change with the treatment as the latest Bone Marrow Biopsy has shown some other changes that are not necessarily consistent with typical Myelodyplasia. Venita's blood counts/cells are dropping much faster than would be normal with this bone marrow failure so instead the Specialists have decided to try another treatment for a slightly different form of MSD first and have post-poned the Bone Marrow Transplant in the interim.

The treatment however is still similar as it suppresses the immune system and kills the bad cells etc and poses slightly less threats at this stage but had to be started a week earlier to give it the best possible chance. It will involve 2-3 weeks in hospital with two different cycles of treatment and as soon as Venita is stable enough she will be treated as an out-patient daily over the next 4 months. The results of this treatment won't be evident until about 3-4 months after which they will decide if the Transplant should go ahead.

As Venita's immune system is suppressed there are still very high risks of infections and subsequent hospitalisations. She will only be allowed to stay in hospital or the unit and therefore can only be in contact with people who are completely well. If there is anyone that would like to visit they need to speak to Allan first to check whether it is suitable. We trust that you understand this, we would love to see you, but this can only happen if you are well and Venita is well.

Back to the treatment to date; Venita got her PICC line in yesterday and yes as most of you said, the thought was far worse than the actual procedure however not something you would line up to do for the sake of it! Already Venita has appreciated the fact that she hasn't had to have pricks all day. The treatment so far hasn't been easy as Venita had bad reactions to it last night and was given all sort of anti-reaction drugs to counteract this. It also involved 15 minutely obs all night and 3 visits overnight from the Dr's as her blood pressure dropped very low. Today they have had to be very cautious and the rate of the infusion has been very low hoping for less chance of a bad reaction. Aside from this, there is not much else to say at the moment. We will let you know more as the time goes on.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support.

xx