I had my 3 month PCR blood draw today rounding out my personal 30 day Sprycel stopping experiment.
I had decided to test whether I can hold my "undetected" or near undetected PCR level after stopping treatment. I was going to re-start my low dose (20mg), but my oncologist suggested I hold off until the results are back (later this week or early next). So my experiment will continue for a few more days.
I am surprised however at my CBC results which I received a few hours later today. They were little changed.
In fact, my platelets actually went down a little bit (still very normal. I had expected Platelets to be the canary and shoot up if CML was expanding) and the rest were like they have been for over a year. Red blood did creep up a tiny amount, but I am still anemic according to the data. White blood cells are normal especially the all important Neutrophils.
Most surprising to me was my vitamin D level. It came in at 55 ng/ml (solid normal). I was shooting for 80ng/ml because I am taking 10,000 IU's of vitamin D3 per day. Apparently that is not enough. I will increase it further and test again in a month or so. I am counting on high normal vitamin D to be therapeutic against CML (keep it from growing since I no longer take Sprycel).
I am very much looking forward to seeing if my PCR remains unchanged. If it is unchanged, Dr. Cortes will condone another 30 day trial. 30 days at a time with no drug.
Very cool.