Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) Support Group
Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), also known as acute myeloid leukemia, is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells. Patients with AML usually present with symptoms such as fatigue, bleeding, infection, prompting medical attention. An abnormal blood test reading will then result in further testing in a hospital with a hematologist to determine AML.
Good evening all. It's been awhile since I have been here. I'm looking for answers yet again. So my dad was finally released from the hospital after about six weeks. He was never in remission but the idea was to try a milder chemo called vidaza. It seemed to have been working until my dad got his blood results back yesterday which showed blasts in his CBC. the doctor called and said that we need to speak about our new options. She is suggesting the strongest chemo out there called CLAG M. What she said after is that he has a chance of dying in the hospital on this regimen. I decided to ask what the survival rate is and she said its 50/50. My dad did have that fungal infection where the infectious disease doctors said straight up that he wasn't going to make it but he did. I even asked her to share some of her success stories and she said my dad was one of them.
I'm hoping to hear more info about this regimen they are suggesting because the percentage is scary. If we decide to do this he would get admitted next Tuesday. The other options were to just maintain with rounds of chemo on a different medicine like he was doing with vidaza. Or just to take the hydroxyurea to keep the cancer cells at bay. I haven't heard much about this regimen and yeah.
I'm hoping to hear more info about this regimen they are suggesting because the percentage is scary. If we decide to do this he would get admitted next Tuesday. The other options were to just maintain with rounds of chemo on a different medicine like he was doing with vidaza. Or just to take the hydroxyurea to keep the cancer cells at bay. I haven't heard much about this regimen and yeah.
My 76 yo father had MDS and just a week ago he went to the hospital with some fever so they took some blood tests. The result was he had evolved very quickly to AML and his only option was to start a strong Chemo cycle (Cytarabine + Idarubicin). We also asked about the survival rate and she told us it was 50/50... that was devastating for us, as we were hoping he would stay stable for a while before even taking vidaza... it seems his AML skipped that step. Up to this point, she told us it was worth trying, and that even though 50% is not the best news, its also not bad and above all... it was his best chance to fight at this point. We accepted and now he is on his third chemo day at the hospital. He feels very tired and has experienced some very high fevers but they say all that is normal at this point.
Dont know what would be better for your father nor mine actually, but for our case, I think its worth trying and fighting...
I wish you the best whatever you decide and encourage you to look for trusted info and ask your doctor what she would do if it was her father. Most important thing, is keep your father positive whatever you decide. Please, keep us posted.
Best wishes.
A friend's husband received CLAG M after relapsing only 80 days post transplant and he's doing great almost a year later
We were never told of a 50/50 chance of dying in the hospital bc of the chemo though.
Best of luck to you dad & please keep us posted
I have provided a link below to the lymphoma leukaemia society AML support group where Clag M is discussed. Hope this helps
Http://community.lls.org/topic/16211-chemo-yet-again-for-aml-with-flt3/?fromsearch=1
He did fine with the clag m. The irritating pay is that I wish they wouldn't have to do this invasive procedure. He's in pain because of the procedure before