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75 year old father just diagnosed with AML
Blood Cancers & Disorders | Last Active: Jun 8 9:53am | Replies (22)Comment receiving replies
Hi Ryan, Your dad has the best attitude towards the battle before him. “We’re going to fight this!” I know there are some people who don’t like to use a battle metaphor for fighting cancer but I really felt that I was fighting a vile invader. I had an army of medical professionals with a huge arsenal of weapons to help me defeat this enemy and a back-up support system with family and friends. The three rounds of chemo worked to get me into a brief remission and the bone marrow transplant sealed the deal…with the hero there being my stem cell donor. It was a battle of mind, body and spirit. Your dad has the spirit of endurance to help him get through some rough skirmishes ahead.
Hah, I’m no angel but I sometimes feel my survival has a higher purpose. ☺️ I didn’t have a mentor or anyone I knew who had AML or a bone marrow transplant. Even though I had extraordinary support from my medical team it’s not like they’d gone through the experience personally. It can really make all the difference when you meet someone who has walked the walk and is willing to take others by the hand along the journey. That’s why I’m here, to make sure you and your dad know there is hope. We all pray for a cure for cancer but in the meantime, we work with what we have available. There are some good options now, where there used to be none.
Here’s a little story about when I finally did meet someone else who had gone through the same AML/transplant journey. After that, I became a mentor myself. We don’t realize at the time but our journeys can become someone else’s survival guide: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/about-connect/newsfeed-post/mayo-clinic-connect-brings-together-2-women-with-leukemia-46-years-apart/
You’ll learn quite a bit at the meeting with your dad and his doctor on Friday. It’s helpful to bring a little notebook with questions your dad or you would like to ask and also to jot down key notes. This is all new and there’ll be a lot of information flying at you at this appointment. I think your dad is up for the challenge and if anything needs clarification, you can ask here anytime.
Do you know if Greg will be admitted to the clinic for this round of chemo?
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Hi Lori,
Today we met with my father's doctor to go over his treatment plan. We learned the chemo will be a combination of Venetoclax (pills for 14 days) and Vidaza (shots in stomach for five days) starting this coming Monday. The shots will be given at the VA Hospital, but he will not stay there as long as everything goes well, and he tolerates it. I read and followed several of the links you provided me, and I was hopeful this would be my father's treatment plan, due to several posts from people saying how effective it was in conjunction with being more tolerable for the patient. The rapid genetic test showed he has a FLT3 mutation, which I know is not good news, and he has 53% blast cells in his blood (we are still waiting for the full genetic testing profile). The doctor talked about a medication that targets the FLT3 cells; however, it sounded like he's going to wait to see how my dad responds to the first round of chemo before adding that treatment regimen to my father's therapy. He said he will do another BM biopsy in 4 weeks and plan the next step. The doctor said my father is not eligible for a BMT at the VA, due to their policy being a maximum age of 75; however, he said he would make a referral to UW Hospital, should my father respond favorably to the chemo, but he said "in his heart" he didn't feel any doctor would consider my father for a BMT (it hurt, but we appreciated his honesty).
Thanks again for everything! I felt better prepared for today and more knowledgeable because of you.
Ryan