JPD - I think Dr. Skinner all those years ago proved an important point about animal response: we will return again and again to something that gives us a reward, and avoid something that gives us punishment. When this particular coin finally dropped for me, I realized that cutting calories was not a deprivation or painful drudgery, but rather was delivering me the reward of losing weight and looking tons better. It was only when I began to see eating right as something good I was doing for myself that it became easy to say no to the glass of wine, or the bread, or the dessert, whatever. The usual reason for overdoing the alcohol is that it makes you feel comforted in the short run. Rewarded. Intellectually, of course you know that it really doesn't work out that way long-term (for you right now, at least.) CML and its accompaniments often makes us confront the feeling of powerlessness. One extremely useful benefit of quitting drinking is the sense of self-control. YOU are doing the choosing; YOU are making your own rules for the game;YOU are forgiving yourself for slips. No punishment. All reward. As soon as that gets firmly put in place in your head, your path is clearly before you. All you do is start walking on it.
As to your number - it's a whole lot better than it was last year, right? Yes, talk to the onc about your concern, but don't get discouraged - it's going down, just in fits and starts and slowly. A LOT of us have had that pattern and have gone on to get lower numbers at last. In addition to getting as healthy as possible, you might review any possible absorption scenarios. I decided to isolate my Sprycel-taking time from the rest of my meds, for instance. And there's other things you can do that have been mentioned here over the years.
Hang in there, JPD, and throw that metaphorical .45 away. I wish I weren't quoting L'Oreal, but - you're worth it.
Dx July 2009 on routine physical. WBC 94. Started Gleevec 400 mg Sept 2009. MMR at 2yrs. Side effects (malaise, depression/anxiety, fatigue, nausea, periorbital edema) never improved. Kidney issues developed because of Gleevec. Switched to Sprycel 70 mg in Aug 2011. Above side effects disappeared or improved. Have been MR3.5 - 4.5 ever since. Two untreated pleural effusions followed by one treated by stopping Sprycel Jan 2017. After 9 weeks, PCR showed loss of MMR; re-started Sprycel at 50 mg and in 3 months was back to <0.01% IS. Pleural effusion returned within a couple of months, same as before (moderate, left side only). Stopped Sprycel 50 mg for 12 weeks; pleural effusion resolved. At about a monthoff the drug, PCR was 0.03; at 11 weeks it was 2.06 - lost CCyR? Have returned to 50 mg Sprycel for 3 weeks, intending to reduce to 20 mg going forward.
You're one of my favorite posters.
