well, after lots of discussion and thought on my part and explanations from several doctors, i've decided at least for the moment to stay on gleevec. this is for several reasons. first my side-effects other than edema and mouth sores and occasional intestinal issues seem to be mostly cleared up. B. gleevec seems to be working fine. my test results are perfectly on target. Drei. Tasigna is really inconvenient to take. by inconvenient i mean this: tasigna is taken twice a day, at approximately 12 hours apart. it must NOT be taken with food. this means that it must be taken 2 hours after eating and then wait an hour to eat.
i considered the possibilities, and this type of schedule is darned inconvenient. now, if the gleevec were to quit working or quit working as well, it would be different. but given that it is, thus far, working on schedule, and the low platelet count seems to have gone away. my most recent CBC shows that my platelets are easing back up to close to normal levels as are my white blood cells, and everything else is already actually at normal.
at any rate, things are going well, and largely uneventfully, so i'm carrying on until next month when we'll do another test to see how well the gleevec is working. it will show how many mutational cells are left. if that is good, i'll continue on gleevec, if it is not, or i have more events of low platelets or low neutrophils, i'll deal with that when it happens. it'll probably mean switching, because i'm not sure what other choice there'll be.
OH: and i don't have another blood draw for a MONTH. a whole month, no sticks. unless i start seeing lots of bruises, then i'll call and well schedule one. HURRAH!
YAY!!!! little steps!!!
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