My lovely wife of 41 and mother to our two young boys (4 & 6) is currently battling this horrid disease (Acute myeloid leukaemia ('AML') with FLT3)
Today we were informed that whilst she did respond to chemo (blasts down to 5.4% from 63%), it hasn’t fully worked. Her bloods have been very slow to recover and they are worried another round of intensive chemo would be too much for her bone marrow to take.
They are suggesting she may need to go onto less intensive chemo until a transplant can be done.
I am trying to be supportive and stay positive but really struggling with this one as it does feel like a step in the wrong direction.
Has anyone been on a similar journey with a positive outcome? Could really do with a boost of hope today.
Firstly I wanted to say how sorry to hear about your wife’s situation. Never good news.
As I understand it your wife has had some intensive chemotherapy and they are now looking at maintenance treatment.
While easy for someone else to say, this might not be as awful as it might appear.
I started off with low intensity chemotherapy when first diagnosed with Myelofibrosis.
After a few months it progressed to Acute myeloid leukaemia (‘Acute myeloid leukaemia ('AML')’)
I was in for high intensity chemotherapy in hope of reducing blasts. Sadly didn’t deliver the hoped for results.
At that point I was put on to maintenance. My drug combination was Venetoclax and azacitidine.
Amazingly it was the first treatment that started the process of reducing blasts. So much so that I got to a level where my blast counts were considered to be at a level where a Bone Marrow Transplant was offered. Very much against the odds.
I had my transplant April 2025 thanks to an anonymous donor being found for me who was a 9 out 10 match.
It looks like transplant is something that’s been spoken about as a possibility for your wife which is great to hear.
The transplant isn’t easy nor is the recovery. However your wife is young so hopefully she would deal with it well.
I was 60 when I had my transplant and doing well at this point.
Hopefully provides some positivity during what I’m sure will be a difficult time for you, your wife and family
I can only imagine and you are both feeling tonight but I hope @DuncanB has helped with his post.
I have a different blood cancer but remember how hard it was navigating it with young children, and although it was me going through treatment, I really worried about my husband. That’s why I’m glad you have found the forum where we can support you.
It’s hard to stay strong for your wife and children when you are so worried about your wife.
Please use the forum when you need to. There will be lots who can share their experiences and there is the support line if you ever want to talk things through or ask questions.
Thank you for the kind message. It all helps, having young kids is definitely an extra challenge which i feel stretches me quite thin trying to support everyone.
Hi i have refractory Acute myeloid leukaemia ('AML') which after 3 rounds chemo hasnt reduced my blasts below 5% my consultant is recommending Salvage chemotherapy (FLAG-Ida)
This post (very sorry ro hear about you wife) seems ro recommend lower dose chemotherapy. Is that working and is it something that i should consider?
In the end my wifes consultants opted for Flag-ida and I am very pleased to say my wife was informed today that she is now in remission 3.3% blasts and her bloods are the best they have been since all this started.
All I can say is trust your medical team and don’t lose hope. As you can tell from my original post i was very worried about my wife but the change in treatment has worked and she is now hopefully just one less intensive chemo round away from getting a transplant.
