My husband has been told he may need to start rituximab to combat the immune-related skin lesions he's had for the past two months. Prednisone (now at 60 mg/daily--skin clears up but then as soon as he gets down to 20 mg or so, lesions return), valacyclovir, and various other medications have not been able to bring them under control. He was diagnosed this summer and has been on w&w...his wbc and lymphocyte levels were actually quite low so he had not anticipated needing treatment so soon.
Three questions:
1. Has anyone else had a similar situation? Is this skin eruption related to the progression of the disease, or is it just an unfortunate side effect of a compromised immune system? My understanding was that it was best to hold off treatment as long as possible. On the other hand, the prednisone is not a long term solution.
2. How disruptive is the rituximab regime? Doc said he would need 4 to 8 treatments (depending on how he responds), weekly. He seems to think he can do these and just go back to work the same or, at latest, the next day. He's an active man in his 50s -- is this realistic?
3. For caretakers: How do you support your partner but keep things real? For instance, we'd need to round up support to get him to 8 day-long treatments 1.5 hours away -- I can't do it all. But he's convinced he either won't need that many, or he can somehow go by himself.
Thanks for your help!
