I continue to have no side effects at all from my treatment. It’s quite amazing. The worst thing I’m facing is a bout of cabin fever from having to stay on the ward 24/7. Out the window I can see that it’s a beautiful evening, I can watch the wind blowing the leaves on the trees, but my room is so hermetically sealed that I might as well be viewing […]
For the first time, today I felt crummy. Not horribly bad, just run down. Operating at 80%. But that’s a good sign. It’s a sign that the infusion is doing its work, running into T-cells in my blood stream and converting them into CAR-T cells that then go and kill the myeloma cancer cells. Sometimes when I shut my eyes it’s almost as if I can feel them, or sense […]
It’s the day after I received the infusion of the KLN-1010 Phase 1 trial product. So far everything is going along as well as it could. I slept well last night (the Benedryl drowsiness won out over the dexamethasone buzz), except for being awoken at 11:30 pm and then again at 4:30 am for checks and blood draws. So far I haven’t had any symptoms from the infusion. The trial […]
After a long, not entirely restful night, today was infusion day. Originally scheduled for 9:00 am, it got delayed until 1:30, because (at the last minute, I think) the sponsor wanted a negative COVID test before the infusion could be delivered, even though I had zero systems of any respiratory problems. In the morning I got visited by various hospital personnel, including the physical therapy nurse, who administered me a […]
I’m finally starting the trial. To get updates subscribe to the site. Any new post will get sent to you automatically. Or check out that site or my new site from time to time. It’s finally here … tomorrow I get admitted to the Stanford Hospital, and the next morning I get infused with the new Phase 1 trial treatment. I’m a little freaked out about possible side effects, but […]
I got a call from Stanford yesterday confirming (finally) that I’m eligible for the Phase 1 trial. I always thought that I would be, but it wasn’t a sure thing until the trial sponsor gave final approval. I’ll be going into the hospital May 5 and getting the new treatment May 6. We finalized our rental of a place in Palo Alto so everything is set. For those interested, here’s […]
This story showed up in my newsfeed last week. Its relevance? The company for which pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is paying $8 billion dollars is Kelonia Theraputics. Those of you paying close attention will remember that Kelonia is the developer of the new multiple myeloma treatment KLN-1010, which (if all goes well) I’ll be getting the week after next as part of a Phase 1 trial at Stanford. I took […]
Hello Friends, I have bad news to share. Early this year, the blood cancer I have had since 2018, which had been under control, returned. The cancer (called multiple myeloma) causes the bone marrow to over-produce cancerous plasma cells, which cause bone pain and damage, kidney damage, fatigue, frequent infections, and eventually death. Treatments can keep it at bay for extended periods of time, but the cancer eventually mutates. Later […]
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Fun day yesterday at the Cal – Syracuse football game, despite the chilly weather and the disappointing performance by the Golden Bears (down 27-7 at the half after being 9-point favorites). Thanks Suzie Shupe, Cordel Stillman, Ann Stillman, and Paul Kay for helping me get my sports fix! Here are a few pictures from the game.