Hello, my name is Victor i literally was diagnosed the 27th of June. My most pressing concern is, am I doomed to take pills forever
You are here
Recently diagnosed
Categories:
Hi Victor -
Welcome to the forums!
The short answer is, maybe. Right now standard practice is lifelong medication, but many tests are underway at the moment which seem to suggest that a percentage of those who achieve MMR after 2-3 years of medication can either halve or completely stop their dosing and still maintain undetectable or extremely low counts. Its early stages but the results are promising and something worth keeping track of.
Even if that doesn't pan out, just remember that lifelong medication surely beats the alternative. As I tell people, if you *had* to have cancer, CML is pretty much the one you want to get. There aren't many cancers out there that have a 90-95% successful treatment rate with just a handful of daily pills and no invasive chemotherapy. Its a hassle, and the side effects suck for many of us, but it sure beats where CML sufferers were 20-25 years ago, when a diagnosis would often mean you had just 3-5 years left to live.
Best of luck to you! You're still just a week out from diagnosis, so its natural to be worried at this point. I'm a year into it at this point, and while I've had my battles with side effects, I can at least tell you that it certainly gets easier/better over time.
Hi Victor, I've just recently been diagnosed (3 weeks ago today), I started Imatinib tablets 2 weeks ago and so far so good, my blood test showed a reduction in my White Blood Cell by half in just two weeks, I feel normal so far with no side effects, so fingers crossed this continues, hopefully you will have a similar experience. I don't feel ill and have been carrying on working and going to the gym as normal - keep positive.x