[steveg83]

Velcade - wait for medication too long

by steveg83 on Mon Jul 04, 2011 5:52 am

Hi, my 65 year old dad was diagnosed with myeloma almost 2 years ago and is now going through the worst. He's had chemo and radiation therapy already however his m-protein numbers have gone back up and he has broken out with lymph nodes on his head.

He has been waiting for another round of Velcade for over 2 weeks and now his doctor is going on holiday for a further 2 weeks. The hospital says the Velcade is on its way but refuses to say anything else other than they can put him on a drip if he comes into the ER.

Is there anything that can be done to get the V sooner? Are you aware of any regulation in this space? He is in a very sorry state and needs the V now, not in 2 weeks.

Thanks in advance
Steve

[Dr. Edward Libby]

Re: Velcade - wait for medication too long

by Dr. Edward Libby on Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:41 am

Hello Steve,
Generally in the United States it takes no more than 72 hours to get almost any form of chemotherapy drug delivered. I would work with the hospital adminstrators to try and speed this up. All hospitals and clinics want to deliver excellent care to their patients and I would hope that if you take your issue up the chain of command that may solve your problem.