Before I was diagnosed with cancer, I thought that when someone was in remission it meant that the cancer was gone. Little did I know that it means the cancer is being held back and not progressing. I have been on ibrutinib (IMBRUVICA® brand name) for a decade and have had a good run of it. I began taking the experimental oral cancer drug July 12, 2012. By January 15, 2015, I was declared to be in clinical complete remission. It was not until April 15, 2022, that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) medical team thought that I may be developing resistance against ibrutinib.
I recently returned from a meeting with my NIH medical team. The good news is that my lymphocyte doubling time has slowed down and my body is stabilizing. They will be focusing on my platelet and hemoglobin counts when I get blood work done.
After a full body scan and numerous blood tests, they determined that I had developed two mutations in my blood – a BTK mutation, which is indicative of ibrutinib resistance, and a BCL2 mutation, which are associated with increased risk of transformation and shortened survival.
SIGNS THAT THE CANCER IS DOUBLING
I need to be mindful of my body. If I see changes such as unintentional weight loss, fatigue, pain, night sweats or fevers, I am supposed to contact them right away. I mentioned to them that pain is relative. I had two babies a ’la natural with no drugs. They said I would know.
THE NEXT CANCER TREATMENT
I have made the decision to follow the advice of the NIH medical team who has kept me alive for the past decade. I selected venetoclax as my next treatment.
There are still some slots left in the 5-week venetoclax (VENCLEXTA® brand name) ramp-up at NIH. The 5-week ramp-up is a clinical trial where the NIH medical team carefully monitors the patient for half a day in the hospital for a period of five weeks and slowly the venetoclax drug is slowly ramped up. The reason that it is slowly ramped up is because if the drug does its job too well and gets rid of too many white blood cells at too fast of a pace, it causes tumor lysis syndrome, which causes death.
Whether I will be one of the ones in the trial remains to be seen. The medical team is advising that I have rituximab infusions for six months, along with venetoclax. I don’t have the details of when that would be given to me. I am dealing with one thing at a time. Provided all goes well in the 5-week ramp up, I will hopefully only have to take venetoclax for two years before my next remission. I am counting on this!
THE COST OF THE CANCER DRUGS
You would think that dealing with cancer was enough of a challenge for a person but dealing with the cost of an FDA-approved drug is another challenge. Because of the way the laws in our country are written, an oral cancer drug does not have the same medical coverage as a cancer drug given intravenously. It is not covered by Medicare. The FDA-approved drug venetoclax costs $170,000 a year. I have prescription insurance, but it is not fully covered. It is still a hardship for most average Americans.
I have been to DC with a team of experts (medical doctors and the president of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) to meet with our Congressmen and Congresswomen about five times in the past decade to discuss this antiquated law that was written before oral cancer drugs were invented. We have told them that cancer drugs are cancer drugs whether they are given through the veins or through the mouth. I have told several senators and representatives my story. They appear empathetic yet noting gets done in Congress. It is beyond infuriating.
Well, the Dragon and I have had to have a heart-to-heart meeting. I will tell you of our conversation in my next blog. For right now, consider me in limbo, but doing fine. I am going about with my life and enjoying every second of it!
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