Hi All,
I switched from Revlimid to Bendamustine last January and I stayed on it for 4 Cycles (January through to the end of April) before switching to Velcade (for the 2nd time). :-/
I was taken off the Rev because my platelets had dropped from 130 to 80 over 4 Cycles while my Kappa Light Chains had risen from 125 to 450 in the same period. I am still convinced that my C: Difficule bug was not allowing the Revlimid to absorb properly and therefore I am still hopeful of getting back to it at some time. 😉
I came off the Bendamustine because it pushed my bloods right down… although to be fair, initially it was very good at bringing down my Kappa Light Chains. Because it pushed my bloods right down I missed a couple of infusions and had to have another couple of infusions at half strength. I was neutropenic for 3 of the 4 months I was on Bendamustine (with my Neuts at 0.4 or 0.5 at best. Apperently this is a common side-effect of Bendamustine, so if your bloods are low when you start on it you need to keep an eye on the results. 🙂
I had 6 very successful Cycles of Velcade over the Summer of 2011, including getting rid of a secondary tumour but I relapsed almost straight away once I had finished my course. This, for the 2nd time of asking, I am due to have 8 Cycles… the first 2 as per normal (2 weekly infusions followed by a rest week) and then 6×1 infusions followed by a rest week… giving me a total of 6×2 extra weeks. The objective now being, not to achieve remissions, but to keep me alive for as long as possible. 😎
Best of good health to all.:-D
Dai.
