The Chemotherapy Treatment for Multiple Myeloma begins

I tried finding another Hematologist to take Mummy to and zeroed in on another Hematologist at another Hospital. I took Mummy to him and we both found him better than the previous one and the best part was there were no recliners etc., and the medicine dose would be administered at his Private OPD Clinic at Hospital No. 4 by him itself.

Velcade® (Bortezomib), developed by Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is considered a medical breakthrough. It is the first myeloma treatment approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2003.

At Hospital No.4, the Hematologist, henceforth named H-2 decided to put my mother on Velcade® -Dexamethasone Treatment for the next 16 weeks, in which once a week through IV (Intravenous route), he will administer 2mg Velcade and then split over two days, Day 1 being the day he administers Velcade and Day 2 being the following day, a 40 mg dose of Dexamethasone (name of the medicine salt) has to be given to her orally, which meant 20mg of Dexamethasone tablets each on Day 1 and Day 2, i.e. 5 tablets of 4mg Decdak tablets-the name of the brand we purchased. 

H-2 gave us contact details of a Pharma dealer who will home deliver Velcade injections to us in an ice pack, we agreed and called that Dealer. It was later I understood that all Doctors receive a commission every time they refer a patient to a Diagnostic Laboratory or Pharma Dealer/Agent.

Measuring the blood level of beta-2 microglobulin, a special protein found in myeloma, provides a useful indicator of the likely course of your disease (prognosis). High levels of beta-2 microglobulin indicate the presence of a large amount of myeloma cells, and / or the presence of kidney damage.

Whereas, Hematologist H-1 at Hospital No.3 had told me that he will put Mummy on Velcade-Dexamethasone and Thalidomide, abbreviated as VDT Treatment. When I asked H-2 about his reasons for excluding Thalidomide from Mummy’s treatment chart, H-2 said that, “Thalidomide is a useless drug, it makes patient feel sleepy all the time and constipated and what not, and that is the reason I don’t put my patients on it”. Point taken by me, I didn’t discuss or deliberate on it further. H-2 also asked me to get Mummy’s beta-2 microglobulin tests done, which we did. 

For the next 16 weeks, every week we visited the Private OPD clinic of H-2 at Hospital No.4, the scenes outside his clinic were the same every time, weak and fragile looking patients seated with anxious caretakers carrying in their hands a bundle of medical reports, all eagerly awaiting their turn! It couldn’t have been more depressing.

Mummy and I faced it, trying to encourage each other and smiling when we could for all that was good.