My Third PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction Test)
 |
| My Daughter and four of five grand-kids! |
What I have
come to understand, is that the best way to measure the burden of disease
(leukemia) in your body is to monitor Bcr-Abl RNA or DNA in the blood and bone
marrow. The goal is for the Bcr-Abl to eventually become undetectable.
It seems to
be that a person that starts their treatment on Sprycel (Dasatinib) tends to
reach these milestones, a bit quicker than if they were to begin their
treatment with Gleevec (Imatinib). My first PCR results, were five months ago,
in May 2011, and the reading was 5.9 x 10-2. My last results are in and I have
reached 3.99 x 10-4. This is a significant improvement and I have reached it in
record time. Next test will be in December. I am hoping for a terrific
Christmas surprise of my numbers coming in in the negative category!
Thanks for the
continued support and prayers!
mICHELLE GLAD TO HEAR YOUR NUMBERS ARE GOING THE RIGHT DIRECTION. i HAVE BEEN ON GLIVEC SINCE OCTOBER 2009 hAVEN'T REACHED pcru bUT HAVE hAD MMR AFTER 9 MONTHS. HOPE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ARE KEEPING WELL.LOVE READING YOUR BLOG.
ReplyDeletewell, thanks, I wish you the best two, sounds like you are a little over a year ahead of me!
ReplyDeleteWow, congratulations! You will be undetectable before you know it. Hmmmmmm, maybe I need to switch to Spycel! I am on Gleevec and although I am responding faster than the norm, it definitely isn't as fast as your response. So very happy that you are doing well. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhen is it considered undectable? >.0001 ???
ReplyDeleteI am not sure "when" undetectable is achieved!
ReplyDeleteAnd Dan if you switch to Sprycel and make less than $75,000 and your insurance does not cover it, Contact me. I get my meds from Bristol-Myer Squibb no charge.