← Return to Long awaited Drug for myelofibrosis (MF) has been released

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@janetlen

I just saw this post. My aunt had MF and developed AML 30 yrs ago. Now her niece (me) has MDS. I wish my aunt had access to this drug, but am happy people have it today. This drug gives me hope. Have you tried the drug?

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Replies to "I just saw this post. My aunt had MF and developed AML 30 yrs ago. Now..."

Hello Janetien: No, I have not tried the new drug yet. The journey in my battle with MDS and MF has taken a lot of different avenues with twist and turns. I've been on a number of different drugs over the course of the last 16 years since I was first diagnosed. Most of the drugs were met with some limited success but in each case as time passed their effectiveness decreased. As newer drugs became available I would often end up giving them a try. About 18 mo back I was put on Vonjo and Dacogen. The Vonjo was to reduce the size of my spleen, and the Dacogen was to kill cancer cells in my Bone Marrow. The Dacogen's cancer killing power comes at a price, it also kills some good cells. It was a balancing act. Over time it became necessary to get Blood Transfusions as my blood counts dropped. When we reached a point that the white cells got too low, we stopped the Dacogen, but continued with the Vonjo. When we stopped the Dacogen my blood counts soared upward to a point that I had not seen in over 16 years. Obviously the Dacogen did it's job and I've spent the last several months with blood counts near that of a "Normal" person. (although my wife says that I've never been "Normal") During all this time I have continued to take Vonjo. As expected, my counts are starting to slowly decline, but they are still far better than before the Dacogen. The Dr says that at some point it may become necessary to again do the Dacogen treatments. When/if we reach that point we may first give the new drug a try. For now I'm enjoying having enough energy to "Leap Tall Buildings with a Single Bound", not bad for a 76 year old. We will see how long all of this last but I've had a good run at it and have never lost hope. As I've told some folks, God Loves Everyone, but he really Likes me.