Sprycel and Fatigue

Every month the drug company calls me on the phone.
Voice: "It's time to renew your Sprycel. Would you like to do that?" and I tell them yes.

Voice: "Do you have any changes in symptoms to report?"

Me: "Yes... I am soooo exhausted and fatigued!!!!"

Voice: "Okay. I will note that. Would you like to speak to the pharmacist?"

Me: "Sure... what the heck..."

Sometimes all I can do is rest.
Pretty Kitty is my girl Queen Bambi

The pharmacist gets on the phone. I tell him my symptoms. We discuss red blood cells which are a little low on me, but it doesn't quite add up to anything serious. Because other factors are not off.

Then he says: "Ten to twenty-five percent of all patients taking Sprycel report the same symptoms. That is considered to be a significant percentage and is therefore a side effect to watch for."

The oncologist I have been seeing categorically denies that my fatigue has anything to do with the Sprycel. It's pretty sad that she doesn't know that the company who makes Sprycel considers it to be a normally expected side effect.

I have already made a second opinion appointment with a new oncologist not connected to the one I have been seeing. I will see him June 17.

What Path to Take?

Is it time for a second opinion?

I could go to another oncologist's office locally or go to Stanford University.

To clarify something I said before that was untrue, but I didn't know it at the time. The clinic I go to called Palo Alto Medical Foundation is NOT related to Stanford as I thought it was. So that is why I am now considering whether or not to go there for a second opinion.

I've started the chemo drug Dasatanib (my personal Obi-Wan Kenobe) and have had annoying side effects for which I am not getting any relief. Do I live with this the rest of my life, without treatment? Not fair! They are not life threatening but they are detrimental to the quality of life.

I've been told I cannot take certain meds I normally take to assuage my body's need for them, and now that i do without, everything I was being treated for has reared it's ugly head. I don't believe in suffering needlessly. I stopped taking the chemo pill for two days just to have a break! Probably not very advisable!

I haven't had a chance to check yet, but I don't know if my insurance will pay for a third opinion. So, do I choose the other oncologist in the area for my second? Or go to Stanford?

Advantage to first is that it is local, a twenty minute drive, plus my old doctor who I saw for 15 years sometimes backs up for them since she has retired.
Disadvantage to Stanford is that it is about 65 miles away over a winding mountain highway and major freeway.

I've already called Stanford and their cancer dept. intake nurse has called me back and asked for all test results and doctor's notes. The test results I have and can easily fax them to her. I have to go through a little hassle to get the doctor's notes, but have started that process.

What path do I take???

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Note: I took the photo of Kats walking toward the cove of trees above the cliffs at Davenport, California. It's a little altered to make it look a bit more mysterious.