3 replies to this topic

[eeyoresusieq]

I just read the message from Trey to Tedsey about parasites - I have often wondered if I have parasites in my body - a country vet once told me that she takes pyrantel poamate once a month and also gives it to her children since she works around animals.  I wonder should I give myself a dose?  Can I take it along with the Sprycel?  I also wonder about Babeosis since I had a tick stuck down inside my ear - I live in the country and have lots of pine trees and apparently one was on me and I didn't know it and at night it crawled into my ear and was trying to get down into my eardrum - I didn't feel it - I just had blood coming out of my ear - gross I know - now I make sure I check myself head to toe for ticks but they are so small and easy to miss - of course they say that Babeosis is only in hotter climates is that right - I suppose I just wish I could take something to get rid of parasites in the blood and then maybe I wouldn't have leukemia??? I wonder why don't they test our blood or body for parasites.  I found something interesting on the internet - its called the "Monsters Inside Me" by Animal Planet it was an interesting article - especially for people who travel to other areas outside of the U.S.  Maybe I'm a little crazy who knows but I keep on searching so reasons for the blood to be messed up.

[CallMeLucky]

I understand your desire to figure out what caused the leukemia, but I urge you to keep a few things in mind.  It is very unlikely you will ever be able to determine with certainty what the cause was, and secondly, that information may not do much for you.  Even if it was a parasite that triggered the leukemia, the removal of the parasite would unlikely result in a reversal of your condition.  Once you have the leukemia, the cause is not really relevant, unless you are looking at environmental factors and concerned about others in your family being exposed to something, but that would be a rare case.

One theory of cancer is the "Two Hit" theory which suggests we have something that we are genetically predisposed to (first hit) and then something comes along (second hit) to trigger the cancer.  So maybe a parasite, or a virus, or exposure to a chemical agent, or something unknown causes the second hit.  Regardless, once the cells start dividing improperly, the removal of the source will not reverse the condition.

I think you need to discuss with your Oncolgist before taking any medication while on TKI treatment.

[eeyoresusieq]

Thanks for the info

[Trey]

I listed it as one of the items that, although improbable, is not impossible.  I would not worry about it -- there are far too many other things worthy of thinking about.  And parasites do not cause leukemia.