Whenever I tried to sit back, close my eyes and visualize millions of stem cells/stem ware glasses coursing through my blood/champagne, a strange thing happened. The crystal glasses would inevitably crash into one another and shatter. "Focus, Susan, focus." I tried again and again, but the visualization always went awry.
Minutes after the shattered vision, I received a message from Dr. Wang from the CoH Donor Center. "At this point it's unlikely that we'll be able to harvest enough stem cells," he said. "You'll be hearing from your nurse coordinator about another mobilization protocol that we'll try. See you in two to three weeks."
The "mobilization protocol" is AMD-3100 (aka Mozobil). It may sound like something that was deployed in Desert Storm, but it's a drug that's been successful in "mobilizing" 5 to 8 times more stem cells than Neupogen alone. It isn't offered as a first-line protocol because it's not yet on the market. I learned from a post on my Mantle Cell Lymphoma listserve that AMD-3100 can be prescribed in a "compassionate use program." I see that at least two of my "cell mates" used this drug and harvested enough stem cells within six days.
Time to pick up the pieces and try again.
No comments:
Post a Comment