My mom was 76 when she was diagnosed.  I would be glad to talk with you privately.

My father, 71 was just diagnosed with AML last week.  He has been in good health until now but was a smoker for many years until just recently quitting a couple months ago.  He is VERY week and currently in the hospital.  They say he has some kind of infection and is treatment with antibiotics. He is supposed to choose a treatment protocol tomorrow.  The doctors have told him about the 7-3 option...or an outpatient option using same drugs as 7-3 but lower doses.  They seem to recommend the outpatient option because of his age and say the 7-3 option would involve a 20% mortality risk during treatment.   I am a 44 yr old myeloma survivor.  They say the outpatient treatment would not offer any hope of remission but the 7-3 would offer a possibility of remission, if he survives the treatment.

This is all very confusing and I was hoping for some feedback from some other older AML patients and their stories.

Hello Redmenace

How is your husbands AML nowadays please. Any updates ?

Binnie xx

Hello Robin,

Glad to hear Peter seems to be doing ok. Glad about the bike ride too. My husband is a very keen cyclist and goes out several times a week. Sometimes he races doing time trials, but this year hasn't felt fit enough to do any.

We are watching the Tour de France too. It's his favourite programme on TV.

Good luck for the 15th, I will be thinking of him.

As for my mum. She has pneumonia and shingles now. But is still at home and is on the best medication they can give her.

She tends to feel weepy during the day, but at night time seems to cheer up and I spent almost 3 hours with her last night. She said she had enjoyed herself and we just chatted, watched TV and ate cakes and sandwiches. her appetite has been getting  a little better, bit by bit. So hopefully she will get through these infections.

I have bought her some fresh strawberries for her to eat as they say they are excellent for the immune system.

Mum is still on chemo tablets so her neuts are almost non existent, so anything to build her immune system up is appreciated.

Last Sunday a lady doctor told me that mum may only have a few weeks to live. But my family are making sure we can keep mum alive and will do anything to keep her in good spirits and clear of infection.

I have even asked some people to do long distance healing.

Binnie xx

Hi Qvarizona, like the name....

I'm so glad your husband is doing well. He is very lucky to have a stem cell transplant at 76 years old.

Here in the UK, they won't do them in patients over a certain age, which seems to be over 60. I don't know if it's because they cost so much or not. We don't have to pay for insurances for health cover like you do in the US, but we do have to pay National insurance which contributes to what we call the NHS (National health service).

I'm not sure if thats a good thing or not.

My mum is currently having treatment with the leading hospital for cancer in Europe and they are the best at the newest trials. She has recently relapsed in June this year after 4-5 months in remission of AML.  She is on chemo tablets to keep the leukemia at bay. They are working, but whilst she is on them, she has no neutrafils and it's a constant worry about her getting an infection.

We are just praying that a new trial will come up soon for her to join.

At the moment, there aren't any spaces available, so it's just a waiting game.

I wish you and your husband all the best for the future, and hope he enjoys his golf and can carry on with his mountain hiking.

Binnie xxx

Robin--

Jerry was dx with Diffused Large B-Cell Lymphoma in Jan. 2006; started chemo in Feb., completed 6 wks later, and in both July 06 and Jan 07, was "clean" of any cancer.  PET/CT test in July 07 showed lymphoma was back, this time centered in nodes in his face.  Onc. said, "Bad sign.  At your age this means we can't really do much for you other than give you chemo and hope the periods of remission don't get too short too soon.  When we asked about the possiblity of a SCT, the onc. said Jerry was far too old; had to be under 65.                                                                                                                                                                              

We came home, had a long discussion over a glass of wine, decided we wanted to "go for the gold" and would fight for it. Next morning, we called our insurer (Cigna Health Care, an HMO) and they agreed to direct  the onc.--who is an independent physician and not employed by Cigna-- to make the referral to a transplant center or they would.  (Yes, we are lucky to have Cigna, and I'm a "walking commercial" on their behalf.  Insisting on the referral was just one of the many things they did for us to make things as smooth as possible in very trying circumstances.)

While we waited for this to get settled, Jerry started chemo (ESHAP) first week in Aug. 2007 in the onc.'s clinic.  We could only hope things were happening behind the scenes, and finally, in early Sept.
Jerry was interviewed by City of Hope (our first choice over the three in Arizona).  No decision was offered until after the chemo was completed in mid-Sept. was tested to make sure he was still reacting positively to chemo.   After his PET/SCAN tests plus bone-marrow biop. all came back clean --meaning he could be his own "donator"-- he still had  all sorts of tests: heart, liver, kidney, lungs, mental health, etc.  On Sept 22 we got a call that he had been accepted, and he entered the hospital two days later, and  the "countdown" chemo started.  It's my understanding that his  City of Hope team gave him a somewhat reduced regiment of drugs.    He received his "New Life" transplant on Oct. 4, 2007.   Recovered very nicely.  We live just far enough from Phoenix to opt for staying in town until the hospital released him from the 3-4 visits every week, but were home before Thanksgiving.

On Dec. 1, 2007, he got very sick, very quickly, and was readmitted to City of Hope with a fullscale infection.  Problem was not the SCT, but rather complications he had from spinal applications of chemo given by the onc. in early Sept.  (precautionary treatment because location of his last cancer had been near the brain).   Result was an inflamation and fluid deposit on his brain.   He had a craniology and 3 more weeks of hospital recovery time + radiology; altogether a worse experience and longer recovery time than the SCT.  ( (Yes, when Jerry got sick on Dec 1, I did worry it was my housekeeping or cooking that was the cause!)

By the way, onc. #1 is taking credit for recommending the SCT (lol), but Jerry wanted someone with a broader outlook.  City of Hope agreed, and  helped us find a new onc. when they  discharged Jerry from their out-reach patient list. 

Before the lymphoma hit, Jerry was very active and in great condition, good weight, etc.  Climbed mountains on a weekly basis,  played golf,  rode his ATV on the trails.  Easy going personality.
MDs all agreed that it was his physical condition that helped him pull through.  I think they are right, but I also credit all the prayers he received.

Prayers and best wishes for your upcoming interview at Hutch.   We have friends there now who say it is indeed great hospital

Joanne

Hi Everyone,

My father is 72 years old and was diagnosed with AML in early September. He received the standard induction chemotherapy, did fairly well on it.  The day 14 Bone Marrow biopsy looked clean, however the bone marrow taken on Day 30 had 25% blasts.  One oncologist thinks that it is best to go for High dose chemo to achieve remission and then possibly bone marrow transplant, while another oncologist thinks it's better to just start low dose chemo (Vidaza) and see how he responds first.  We are very confused and not sure what we should do next. My father is very active and before this was in good health, he does have type II Diabetes but is pretty much under control.  He's finding it hard not being able to do the things he use to do but he is determined to survive this.  Im hoping that someone can give us some insight on their treatment experience and outcomes.  I really appreciate any input and hope everyone is doing well.  Thanks - Eve