So I was ending the fourth month of my new treatment. The drug labeled STI-571 was working well at this point. I was laboring along with side effects that were very evident yet expected. Night sweats, upset stomach, fatigue, rash, bowel issues and bad reflux. As the drug worked its magic, systematically eliminating the production of new Leukemic cells, I gradually responded to the therapy. My White blood cell count was gradually reducing and my other counts like my Red cells, Hemoglobin and Platelets were dropping lower as well. Collateral damage Dr. Topolsky called it. My midterm appointment with Dr. Dave was so emotional and uplifting for both of us. We worked together for so long and so hard to defeat this animal. We were finally winning. He was so happy. “I told you.Keenan”..”You ain’t dying”. Bad grammer and all, he nailed it!
My next stop that week was JHUH. Dr. Miller was very upbeat and happy to see me. “Jeff, your counts are great!”. This “shit” WAS really good! After drawing blood and hitting the Aspiration table for another round of Shish Kabob by the death princess, I would again receive a transfusion of Platelets and Hemoglobin. Just a pump me up for the week to come. Dr. Miller said that hopefully this would be the last time that I would need them. Hopefully. I would now only have to come once a month to Baltimore to see her but in between a visit for a regular blood draw at Hahnemann. There’s that light!…at the end of the tunnel. Such a long freaking tunnel it was.
The next two months went off without a hitch. The spring of 2001 was here and the prospect for a great year was wide open. We repeated the appointments and the protocol as warranted by the FDA and presented my data religiously. As we entered April, I received a call from Dr’s Topolsky and Miller. “Must be big” , I said. The STI-571 drug trial was over! The second trial was halted due to the drug being declared as an emergency use trial drug with immediate distribution to all patients suffering from CML. The drug was working so well that the FDA felt that it had to be approved for general and international use right now. The fastest drug ever approved for general use to the public. One year from the first trial of approximately 65 people and only 8 months into the second trial of approximately 450 patients with CML. The trials were finished. The drug would be available in our Pharmacies within two weeks. The trial nurse gave me just enough drug to hold me over until.i could fill my first prescription. Thirty brown oval pills. 400 mg once a day, every day, at night as usual at the fabulous price of only Ten Thousand Dollars…a month. Yep, that’s only $330.00 per pill. Thank God for insurance!! It would be called “Gleevec”. Yes…”Gleevec”. I’m gonna miss those crabs though!
Next up: So What is Gleevec?