I had thought I was past the “nadir” for the recent Vidaza (MDS) cycle. But not so. Even 16 days after, the immune system is probably still vulnerable. I have been so careful and yet I came down with a minor infection. I shall not go into the details. I was taking cranberry juice every night whilst on Vidaza and wearing masks when out in public places. Anyway, I want to share my experience with fellow mm-ers on what I did. I promptly started on antibiotic (ciprobay 2x 250mg) and it was immediately effective in controlling the infection and the low grade fever of 37.3C lasted only for a day. My doc has equipped me with a variety of antibiotics to handle some (common) infections, for which he has trained us to recognise and report. Without having to go into the clinic, I was permitted to proceed with a course of oral antibiotic. This time round I felt unwell for two days and am now much better. For mm-ers, it is important to get any infection swiftly under control. I avoid being hospitalised, if possible – there are worst strains of “bugs” found in hospitals.
The reality for me is that with concurrent treatments for MM and MDS, the effect of these drugs probably hit me doubly hard and my immune system may take a little bit longer time to bounce back. Anyway this concurrent treatments happen only twice a year and the rest of the time is just maintenance with Revlimid and Dex for MM.