Response to a questions from Joy
Joy, thank you for reaching out to us. I will answer your question with facts from Bill's personal experience which may differ from others. Bill's first treatment with Campath was on Friday June 4th 2010 and was 3mg, the second treatment with Campath was on Sunday June 6th, 2010 and was 10mg, the third treatment with Campath was on Tuesday June 8th, 2010 and was 30mg. All subsequent treatments were 30mg Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week. Bill received 47 treatments of Campath, the last one being on Friday October 1, 2010. All treatments were sub Q, which is by injection under the skin.
In addition to the Campath the Dr. in Hershey PA believed that also using Cladrbine as a treatment would further fight the disease. Cladribine was given for five days once a month, an 8mg infusion each of the five days. Bill received three rounds of Cladribine, the last was on Friday August 6th, 2010.
The Dr. explained that the chemo needed to stop at least 30 days prior to the admission to the hospital for the transplant. Bill's last treatment of Campath was on Friday October 1, 2010, from what we were told treatment with Campath lasts from three to four months. Bill's WBC went from 22 to 1 during this time. Bill was admitted to the hospital on November 3rd to start his pre transplant regimen of high dose chemo. On November 9th Bill received his transplant.
The disease is very aggressive so the plan was to get the WBC under control through Campath and then perform the transplant since that was the only known way of achieving remission. The various bone marrow biopsies were the only accurate way of detecting the success of the transplant.
Thanks for the question and I hope my response was helpful.
