Hello Mary,
Glad you have hired help, I hope to be hiring someone by early January. BIG CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR PCRU status ;>)! Actually, Dr. Mauro said that they had a 75% rate of success on the 50 patients that had autologous transplants. He also stated that most of the patients had their harvest done while in CCR and he would expect the success rate to increase with PCRU. I am PCRU and have completed a partial harvest with the second part to happen in early January. I was supposed to do it this fall but I got too busy with life in general. I really do not think that we will have to use it, but who knows. I think you should "strike while the iron is hot". I was off of Gleevec for over 10 days during my first harvest attempt and I had injected copious amounts of CGSF. We collected over 1 million cells and the quantitative PCR on the specimen and me after all was said and done was still "undetectable". I think more and more centers will be encouraging patients to go for the harvest if their insurance will cover it, because the risks are pretty low once you are PCRU. As for worry of infections while in the hospital, I had a femoral vein catheter inserted which required hospitalization. The aphresis procedure is usually done on or near the transplant ward and the nurses are specially trained. Although infection can always happen, I think it is pretty rare. I did not have any problems with infection. I had a previous harvest that was done at diagnosis with catheters in both arms and I have to say that I much rather preferred the femoral vein catheter, even though it was uncomfortable. There are risks with everything we chose to do, but the other thing I think about is what if a really good vaccine comes along which requires the use of my collected cells or some other procedure that isn't known to us yet. I was slightly anemic after the procedure, but I always have trouble with keeping my Hgb in the "normal". One injection of Eprex (Procrit, 40,000 IU's) and I was back in full swing again. Take lots of calcium before during and after as you have more of a risk to deplete your calcium than you do of developing anemia. Hope this helps and let us know what you decide. Cheers, Cheryl-Anne --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Mary Toole <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi to everyone. I have been so overwhelmed with work the last few weeks. I hired someone to help me out and training her has been a long ordeal. Didn't realize how much I knew! Tee hee. She is young and has so much energy and doesn't want to stop. Now I know how old I really am! Last night I was here until 8:00. But, it will be so worth it when we're done. > > Sorry about thinning tips. I will really try to get going on that this week-end. > > Hate to ask for advice when I've been so lax lately, but I need some opinions. Got my PCR results and I am totally undetectable! Dr. Sawyers believes that I am at a 4 log reduction. Now, the question. Dr. Sawyers wants me to have a harvest right away. I asked him what the chances were of me actually using the cells and he said that it was very small. He said he would probably try BMS first or other therapies that may come along because he doesn't feel that I will relapse for quite some time. He believes there will be many other options by then. But, he said if it were him, he would probably do it anyway because of this window of opportunity. > > My concerns are as follows: Dr. Sawyers wants me to be off Gleevec for a good week or so and I'm thinking why rock the boat? I'm doing so well on IM and worried that it may change things even if slightly. Also worry about staph infection and sepsis with an open wound while being in the hospital. Unfounded worry? A lot of people have said how it made them so anemic afterwards as well. I remember Dr. Mauro saying that they had 10,000 frozen harvests and have only used 2 of them. He also said that it only worked about half the time. Is it worth the risk and the discomfort? Those of you who are at PCRU and have not had a harvest, why not? I would really appreciate your opinions as well as those who have chosen harvest. What other risks are there? > > Thanks in advance for your time. Regards, > > Mary Toole > dx 10/02 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/8zSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> New! Sign up for local CML support group meetings in your local community at http://cml.meetup.com Apply for Commercial Real Estate loans online and submit your deal to dozens of hungry lenders in just minutes. 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