Three months ago I discussed my continued use of Imatinib with my consultant, and we agreed that I would continue taking Imatinib for the foreseeable future. Yesterday in the clinic we discussed it again, and this time decided that there is not much point in continuing with it, so I have stopped. I have trusted my doctors until now, and they have taken good care of me, so I think it will be fine. It is one less pill to take anyway.
My BCR-ABL test was negative, which is always nice to hear, but rather like the (usual) weak positive, it does not have much significance. All of these results so close to zero have no significance either way, as they push the boundaries of the accuracy of the test. However, because of the positive results, I will continue with the quarterly visits to the clinic for a while yet. They keep telling (and so I keep writing here) me that if my type of leukaemia is going to relapse, it happens sooner rather than later. As time passes, the relevance of these tests diminishes, and they will probably move me to yearly visits.
