My Monthly Dose of IVIG

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is a blood product prepared from the serum of between 1000 and 15 000 donors per batch. It is the treatment of choice for patients with antibody deficiencies. IVIG temporarily increases the platelet count in about 80 percent of ITP patients.

If antibody levels become too low, doctors sometimes recommend that people with lymphoma receive intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) to bolster their immune system and help protect them from infection.

IVIG is produced by pooling antibodies from thousands of blood donors. The antibodies are purified and sterilized to prevent the transmission of any infection.

What does it involve?
IVIG is administered via intravenous infusion in a medical setting. IVIG treatment is commonly given once a month while antibody levels are low. Antibody levels may rise with effective lymphoma treatment or recovery from chemotherapy or stem cell transplant. As Ig levels rise, you may need IVIG less frequently.

COMMENT:  Since I am being treated with immunotherapy for both Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Metastatic Melanoma, my Oncologist has recommended that I be given IVIG on a monthly basis to bolster my immune system, my low platelet counts, my anemia, and my constant sinus infections, and facial infections that have resulted from over a decade of cancer treatments.

I notice a change after each treatment in that my overall mental and physical health seems to be more vibrant, although that could be psychological...  and if it is, I really don't give a damn because the bottom line is that I feel better.  The only downside is that all my treatments come with steroids and that keeps me awake at night and since I have chemo treatment the next day EARLY...  then I need to fall asleep quickly.

Immunoglobulin Therapy

IVIG is made from the antibodies of blood from about 20,000-30,000 people or so I was told by one of the nurses who administers the infusion.  These infusions help boost the immune system of patients who have low immune system protection due to on-going cancer treatments.

In previous years, many of the people who died of cancer actually died from contracting other diseases as a result of a low immune system and not from the actual cancer itself.

IVIG stays in the body for about 3-4 weeks and I was receiving monthly infusions every month until the healthcare industry started experiencing shortages and my treatment was stopped because I was not experiencing a life threatening situation.

After about 18 months of not receiving any IVIG treatments and because I was getting constant infections, I was put back on receiving IVIG every other month which only had minimal influence.  My Oncologist last month said he was writing an order for monthly IVIG infusions and I will find out today if that order was approved.

Absolutely Amazing (he said tongue-in-cheek)

Met with my Oncologist this morning after two months of not receiving any cancer treatments because my body was being filled with antibiotics, and during the visit was told that the Infectious Disease Dept at the hospital had put in my report (numerous times) to them that my port have been removed.  NOTHING COULD HAVE BEEN FARTHER FROM THE TRUTH...

While this error did not hurt my reality, what if they had put something down that was also completely FALSE that changed the way my Oncologist was planning to treat me.  When you think about from that standpoint...  it is a HUGE ERROR...  and, leaves me wondering who can you really trust.

The CT scan that was taken while in the hospital with my Staph Infection was sufficient to show my Oncologist that there was no new growth going on inside me...  so, suspending my treatments was done at a PERFECT TIME thankfully.

I had my Opdivo treatment for Melanoma while I was there and will start taking my IMBRUVICA pills tomorrow (so I can get back on a morning schedule) for my Lymphoma.  My Oncologist, because of my Staph Infection, is considering starting me back on IVIG treatment once a month and will let me know in 4 weeks at our next regularly schedule meeting/treatment day.

Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning, except I am living in TN...  however, I am originally from THE TAR HEEL STATE.

Living With Cancer

Living with Caner is simply horrible and I would not wish this experience on anyone because:

1. I have had over 150 chemo/immunotherapy infusions
   
2. I have become anemic because of my cancer treatments
3. I have no immune system because of my cancer treatments
4. I have had 2 Oncology surgeries
5. I have had 6 intense radiation treatments
6. I have had daily nausea & fatigue for years
7. I have had 6 weekends of violent vomiting ending in the ER
8. I have lived with uncertainty and anxiety/fear
9. I have had 5 skin cancers removed caused by my cancer treatments
10. I have lost my sense of taste to most foods
11. I have gained 30 pounds due to steroids taken with my cancer treatments
12. I have had a serious heart attack that may have been cause my cancer treatment
13. I have hypothyroidism that was caused by my cancer treatment
14. I have contracted Melanoma that may have been caused by my cancer treatments

2020 began my 13 year of FIGHTING CANCER(S)...   since I have Lymphoma and Melanoma and while I am thankful and grateful that I have lived this long...  I also live with the anxiety that my cancers could become so AGGRESSIVE that modern day medicine cannot stop it and my life will become forfeit.

CAR T-Cell Therapy for Lymphoma

CAR T-cell therapy is a promising treatment for some patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that has not responded to other therapies (refractory). It is a highly-specialized therapy that involves genetically modifying a patient's own T cells to attack their cancer. The FDA has approved two CAR T-cell therapies for lymphoma: Yescarta™ and Kymriah™. Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center (DF/BWCC) is one of the first centers to make the FDA-approved therapies available as standard of care to patients who have not had effective treatment options.

Yescarta (also referred to as axicabtagene ciloleucel) is approved for aggressive, relapsed and/or

refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma, and transformed follicular lymphoma. The clinical trials of Yescarta showed the therapy to be highly effective with 82 percent of patients responding to the CAR T-cell therapy, including 54 percent who had a complete response (i.e., no sign of cancer). The most recent follow-up data shows that at a median 15.4 months after treatment, 40 percent of patients remain in complete remission, showing the lasting effectiveness of this therapy.

Kymriah (also referred to as tisagenlecleucel) is approved for patients with relapsed or refractory

(r/r) large B-cell lymphoma including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), high grade B-cell lymphoma, and DLBCL arising from follicular lymphoma. In clinical trials, patients had strong responses from this therapy: 53 percent responded to treatment, with 40 percent achieving a complete response (i.e. no sign of cancer). Kymriah is also approved for patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) up to age 25. Learn more about Kymriah for pediatric B-cell ALL.  Source:  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Forgot to Mention

A couple of years ago, I had 6 doses of unusually high radiation over a 4 month period to combine with Opdivo and quickly kill my Melanoma...  at least, those were the results of the clinical trials held at MD Anderson in Texas.  Each dose lasted 20 minutes and I had one each week for 3 weeks.  After a period of 3 months, 3 more doses were administered to me in the same format and after another week, I underwent a PET/CT scan especially designed for Melanoma staging.  My Melanoma had been SUBSTANTIALLY BEEN REDUCED and an interested and very positive result was the fact that my non-Hodgkin's "B" cell Lymphoma had been SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCED as well.

Once the OPDIVO was supercharged by the radiation, no more radiation treatment were required and the reductions of both the Melanoma and Lymphoma continued to take place.  My body was demonstrating exactly how the treatments were supposed to work which made me feel WONDERFUL to say the least.

A year later, there is still some minor reductions in both cancers, but DEAD TISSUE can be felt in my groin at the crease of the upper thigh.  There are numerous lumps of various diameters just below the surface that will remain there for the rest of my life...   they will never disappear unfortunately.  Right now, I can feel them with my fingers and feel them without my fingers when I have sat in a chair for an extended period of time like when watching a movie.

Sometimes, it just feels mentally odd that there is DEAD MELANOMA in my groin.