You may remember that early last summer, I was hospitalized while I was given an immunosuppressive treatment for what doctors think is an auto-immune condition.
Results were up & down for the first few months but then, starting in late September, my numbers got better & stayed good for a period of eight months. Everyone was hoping that the treatment had fixed the problem, that I was "better."
The treatment involved three medications. Doctors thought it would be best if I stayed on one of them for a year. In mid-May, when it had been a year, I stopped taking it. We checked my numbers at that time & they were considered, "fine" called, "good."
Then, in mid-June, after a month with no medication, we checked back. I was hoping my numbers would be great. Instead, they were lousy, incredibly so. My doctor said it appears this is a condition I have, something we'll need to work on managing rather than expecting to cure.
Last month, he asked me to try a medication called Neupogen in hopes it would boost my numbers to safe enough levels w/o my having to go on the other medication again. The Neupogen gave my numbers a bit of a boost but not enough to make us comfortable, especially since the idea is that something is attacking my cells. Just increasing them won't do the trick if something is knocking them down.
Today, he said he wants to try having me go back on one of the immunosuppressant medications to see if that will work better. That medicine, Cyclosporine, is given to people who have had organ transplants to try to keep their body's defense cells from attacking something good & necessary. We'll see if it will keep my lymphocytes from attacking my neutrophils.
He wants to start checking my blood work every week again for awhile. So, that's the plan. Feel free to contact me directly if you have questions or would like to discuss. Otherwise, as always, thanks for your care & support.
