Revlimid regime update

Time for a catch up on FL and health.

Wednesday is "Dexy Day", when FL adds 20 steroid pills to his morning popping session and immediately thinks he is Superman.

He went to golf despite feeling very tired and managed to do everything except putt - he was too jittery and couldn't hold the club steady.

By the time I got home from work he was at the argumentative stage and I was in the firing line for arranging cheaper car insurance and losing him his "60% discount" with the old company. I explained that the "60% discount" was a marketing ploy, which had no meaning if the new insurance was £200 a year cheaper than the old. My remit had been to find cheaper insurance, and that's what I did. Luckily he got distracted and we did not fall out over it.

While we were out walking the dog, he was getting very excited at his latest entrepreneurial scheme - the idea being to invite a mobile phone company to erect a mast on our land "Because look at the area it would cover!" (We are in a dodgy area for network coverage, so I can't help feeling this is about him losing his own signal mid-call rather than some altruistic public gesture!) I explained that people did not like mobile phone masts because of fears about radiation, and that he would reduce the saleability of the farm if he did any such thing. "I don't believe it! Where's the scientific evidence?" Um.... I don't know, but the point is, that is the widespread public perception and I don't want to take the risk. And anyway - why? We are not in need of a sudden injection of cash, so why risk the longterm value of the property? "How about a wind farm then?"

OMG I can't stand Dexy day!

Bed-time came, and there was no sign of him going to sleep. The light was off, I had taken a Lemsip, and all I wanted was for him to stop talking! Then he started getting attacks of cramp. He was up and down 3 or 4 times, with a lot of crashing about and cursing. He told me in the morning that he had got up and watched two episodes of Time Team at various points through the night. I was running a temperature myself (my daughter and I have both caught his cold), so all in all it was not the most restful time.

He still has a hacking cough. He denies that there is any need to see a doctor, despite the clear warnings on the Revlimid packet to report any infections because of his compromised immune system. The incidence of cramp seemed to be decreasing since he started taking quinine, but the Dexamethasone appears to make it worse.

In summary - he is coping with the side-effects of Revlimid, but only just. The cramp seizes him so suddenly and dramatically, usually in the legs, that he shouts out loud in pain. I can hear him from the other end of the house. He usually accepts pain with a silent teeth-clenching grimace, so this is new and upsetting for all of us. Next week is his "week off" in the treatment cycle so it will be interesting to see how that goes. Back at the hospital on the 22nd.

To recap: if Revlimid successfully reduces FL's Freelite score, he could potentially be prescribed this set of drugs for the rest of his life. However, if little or no improvement is seen after 3 months, he will be taken off this regime. To date, the doctors have not suggested any alternative treatments, so I have referred to Revlimid as the Drug of Last Resort.