Thursday, April 05, 2001
Bruce is doing well, although he's still fatigued and he hasn't been able to return to work yet. His onc thinks the fatigue is being caused by an accumulative effect from all the years of chemo Bruce has had, and from all the years he's battled the beast. Also, Bruce's RBC is still below normal, and we're assuming his magnesium is also still low (his onc said it can take months for the supplements to raise it), so those factors might be contributing to the fatigue as well. Other than needing lots of rest though, Bruce is feeling great and is still in remission! :-)

Last fall, before he had Bexxar, Bruce had PCR testing done in connection with a different clinical trial. We recently asked for the results of that PCR test. If Bruce had been positive on that test (as most people with his type of NHL are), then his onc was going to have another PCR test done, to see if he had changed to negative. If he had changed, it would have indicated that Bruce was in a molecular remission, and not just in a clinical remission.

We've just learned the results of the PCR test that was done in the fall. To our surprise, Bruce tested negative even before he had Bexxar! This may, or may not, mean much. We're now trying to find out if there's any data showing how the small subset of people who test negative when they get Bexxar, respond to it. We're not sure there is any such data however, as PCR testing isn't normally part of the protocol for getting Bexxar.

I haven't been online much lately, so I haven't had a chance to respond to many of the people who have asked me to write to them. Please accept my apologies.

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