Hi
I have just finished my first cycle and started my second. I’ve struggled to be honest, low energy, reactions to the jabs and to the immunoglobulin, let w immunity and blood counts. I spoke to my consultant last Tuesday and she told me that once we get to the end of this second cycle she can review how often I have the jab going forward.
She told me that they are recognising that it is not necessarily required to give the jab every week to get good results. Once the myeloma is under control it is possible to manage it with less doses with some people going down to once a month. She has said that after this cycle she may be able to move me to everything 2 weeks. I think that usually it is reviewed at 3 months from starting and often reduced at that point if you are having a good response.
Some time ago I was listening to a radio 4 program about cancer treatment. They had some specialists on the program who were talking about the fact that they are recognising that it is better to treat cancer with less of a sledgehammer approach. Apparently when the cancer is attacked full-on it recognises it and tries to respond. But if it is attacked in a less aggressive way, it doesn’t always recognise that it is being attacked and so this is more effective in treatment. I feel that maybe in lengthening the gaps between the injections it is maybe following this type of approach. It is definitely worth raising all of this I think with your consultant and seeing what they say because as we know everyone is really different in how they respond to treatments. I hope this is helpful and good luck.
