Perspective

Dr. Shustov, the Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia specialist at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance tells me that Dr. Jaslowski, my Green Bay oncologist did a phenomenal job. First off, my oncologist did not kill me with the Larson protocol. One out of seven don't make it through induction. Second, Dr. Jaslowski knew enough to tell me that getting a bone marrow transplant was the only way through this disease. Without a bone marrow transplant, only 20% survive without remission of the disease. The bone marrow transplant gives me a 50% chance of survival from ALL. One in eight patients are dead at 100 days following transplant. Shustov calls ALL a rare and lethal disease for adults. I had worried that Dr. Jaslowski was not an ALL specialist. Shustov is named a specialist. Even Shustov sees only six of less cases of ALL a year in a five state radius of practice. "There are only four drugs to treat ALL," he explained. While the Larson protocol is ancient, your oncologist did a phenomenal job. Treating ALL is an art. It is all about mixing and intensity of the drug....using enough without killing the patient. In six months, have your heart function tested. The Danunorubicin you had through the Larson protocol is toxic to the heart and your Prednisone doses through induction were massive."