Hives and More Hives

I was winding down from the last few hectic months. The great trip to Sweden, the busy holiday season and my first trip to the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center. Since my Leukemia situation wasn’t resolving itself through the increased dosage of Gleevec, Dr. Luger decided to start me on the next level drug….Tasigna. As I mentioned before in a previous blog, Tasigna is thirty five times more potent than its predecessor Gleevec. I began taking a very heavy dose, 800 mg, since the acceleration of my PCR was not to the doctors liking. It hit me like a ton of bricks. The first week on Tasigna knocked me out! This was one heavy dose and like Gleevec, getting used to the new treatment would be challenging. The worst part of the drug would kick in soon, disabling me with a horrible case of hives. My whole body was completely covered in a red, scaly, itchy, burning rash. It was unbearable.

Of course, this upcoming week was Valentines Day. The store always experiences a nice uptick in business for the holiday of romance and love. In past years, the end of January would be the start of shopping for most men who hadn’t picked up something for Christmas or were newly in love or wanted to do a Valentines engagement. Times have changed. Now, Valentines Day business was just usually the last few days before the 14th. Replaced by a flowers and dinner and maybe some candy kind of vibe, most young men do not splurge on the Diamond hearts and Heart jewelry like they used to. Don’t get me wrong, unlike Christmas, it’s just not like it used to be. This season, I didn’t care. I was in lifesaving mode again and this stuff was killing me.

The hives continued to irritate me twenty-four seven. Dr. Luger recommended that I take oatmeal baths and use anti itch type lotions until my next appointment coming up the next week. These antidotes really didn’t help as the rash was everywhere on my body. When I finally arrived at U of P, Dr. Luger was astounded by my dilemma and apologized for not realizing the extent of my hives. They were bad. She immediately started me on large doses of Steroids to try to resolve the issue. Meanwhile, my blood counts were actually moving in a positive direction. My WBC count had dropped slightly and hopefully, within the week we would have a positive reduction in my PCR. I would return in another month to repeat these studies and keep in touch to see how the steroids were working on my rash. As far as the debilitating fatigue and other issues, well there was no relief in sight until the Leukemia numbers came down to a point where Dr. Luger felt comfortable enough to lower my dosage. Fingers crossed, I would not be the second and now only patient in the world to succumb to this rare and unusual mutation. Now come on lovebirds, buy some Diamond Hearts!

Next Up: Astonishing Results