The progression

During late 2009, Dad was under going through lot of pain and suffering. He used to get fever often. Legs had swelling. Eyes were a little impaired and couple more problems. Till this time he was being treated at Kidwai hospital, Bangalore.

This continued for couple of weeks. We consulted a doctor nearby and Dad used to take medication. We had the least knowledge that this could be because of CML. Later, probably after couple of weeks more, there was a particular test done and doctor disclosed that he had developed resistant to Imatinib and the disease had progressed to Blast Crisis stage.

CML has 3 stages
1. Acute
2. Accelerated
3. Blast Crisis

The disease had jumped from Acute to Blast Crisis. And at this stage, the disease has to be treated with a medicine called Dasatinib or Sprycel. The doctor could have given a heads up explaining about further care or further course of action. I felt we had to consult a doctor who can give personal care. 

From one of our relative we got the contact of Dr Neelesh Reddy, Oncologists, Columbia Asia Hospital, Yashwantpur. Dr Neelesh did the complete case study and explained everything and possible treatment. Dasatinib was the only medicine to control at this stage. There were side effects involved with this medicine as well. Fatigue, diarrhea,  constipation, reduction in platelets are a few.

The initial days of the medication was roller coaster with Dad's health. With constant consultation he became stable and started leading a better life.

The medicine cost was Rs 1.6 lacs per month, but with a program run by Bristol Mayers, manufacturer of  Sprycel, we could get couple month's of free medicine on purchase of one.

I would mark this as a second stage of his fight with CML.