I started a new treatment on Tueday, July 14th at 2:30am,  the same treatment a reader addressed last week, below is a snippet of her comment.

I have aplastic anemia, but am 4 yrs in “remission” after ATG & Cyclosporin treatment. My sister is a bone marrow match, but the immunosuppressive therapy worked for me. Diagnosed at 16, now 23. Is there a reason they chose to forego immunosuppressive therapy as a treatment option for you? Is your case too severe?

Bone marrow transplant was the first choice of my doctors, their reasoning was if successful it offers a complete cure. But my brother wasn’t a match, so we’ve moved on. The new treatment plan is ATG, and as the above comment proves this route can be highly effective, always nice to hear. Here’s what I gathered about ATG treatment two days in.
Anti-thymocyte globulin or ATG (also referred to as Lymphocyte immune globulin) comes from an animal, from what I’ve gathered usually either a horse or rabbit (also heard goat is a possibility)—in my case it’s a horse. ATG is given the same as a blood transfusion, dripped through my PICC Line over roughly seven hours (the process may be slowed down  if the patient’s reacts adversely, I’ll get there). From reading and hounding my doctor(s), ATG contains antibodies against T-cells,  those same cells that are attacking my bone marrow and caused this mess. The hope is the antibodies will slow down the immune system, and therefore slow the attack of the T-cells on my marrow. All the literature I read prior to this mentioned a good chance of adverse reaction to this therapy, all the literature was right. My body wanted nothing to do with the horse serum, and threw a hissy fit upon introduction. Chills, uncontrollable shaking, fever, hives, dizziness combated with a Benadryl, Demerol and Valium cocktail that worked well, but left me far from productive. To the credit of my nurse, she took my reaction to the  first treatment and learned from it. After adjusting my pre-meds, this morning’s round was cake. Slept through the whole of it, and experienced no loopy drug-induced side effects in the aftermath.
When healthcare is done right, it should be recognized. Treating the patient(me) as an individual case with evidence based, data supported care—got to love it.
I have, as of Monday, also began taking, Cyclosporine, another immunosuppressant. Because I will continue to take it post-ATG therapy for a bit of time, I plan to post a more detailed explanation of my experience with the drug as our bond grows. These are the two main drugs I take, but there are a whole lot of secondary ones, taken to prevent viral, bacterial, or fungal infection that my dwindling immune system can no longer fight off.

Of note, all this medication terrifies me. I have never been a big fan of taking pills, no matter the reason. Its reached to the point where all the sudden I’m taking so much that I’ve lost track. I have this terrible habit of looking up the side effects every med I take, which makes it even scarier. Something about excessive hair growth and increased occurence of cancer just doesn’t sit right. Oddly enough I think the first one terrifies me more than the second. But the reality is, possible side effects are not important, because in the end all statistics become a crapshoot when applied to a single individual, in a single moment of time. Three weeks ago statistics told me I wouldn’t be blogging from a hospital bed after learning I had a rare blood disorder.

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