Since I feel that the CNTO 328 trial is not working for me, I’ve been thinking about my next treatment step. I’m almost 100% sure that I want to enroll in the Multicenter, Open-Label, Single-Arm, Expanded Access Program For Lenalidomide Plus Dexamethasone In Previously Treated Subjects With Multiple Myeloma. It involves high dose dex, which isn’t very appealing to me. I’d have to take the dex at 40 mg a day for 4 days, with 4 days off, over a period of 16 weeks. That would be the longest I’ve ever been on high dose dex. Revlimid is supposed to be 50 to 100 times stronger than Thalomid, which I took back in 2003. Thalomid worked for me. I think it may have been more the dex though. My response slowed down after I went to just 40 mg dex a week. One thing I’m concerned about is that my MM seemed to have become resistant to dex. Will the high dose dex do more harm than good?
I just know that I need to choose another treatment. I’m weary of having to go for IV treatments, so the pills seem very convenient. I’m tired of being poked. It seems my veins are too. Each time I go, there are multiple attempts to get an IV going. I have one good vein on my left hand, and it has its scars.