Vemurafenib

The first part of my clinical trial is for me to take a drug called vemurafenib. Quite a mouthful (literally, as you'll see later). Doctors have usually referred to it just as Vem to make it easier on the ears, and I merely adopted the syntax. The brand name of the drug is called Zelboraf and is how it is labeled for sale. I want to tell you a bit more about what I'm taking.

My visit to Emory on Tuesday meant I would receive my first two weeks worth of doses. This is what I got.

Horse Pills

I was taken aback. It might not be apparent from the photo, but the bottles are huge. They were stuffed into the brown paper bag behind them. How many of these things would I have to take? That is only 14 days worth. I knew each day I'd have to take 2 doses, but that is still a lot. Well, as it turns out looks can be deceiving.

Blister Packs

Inside the bottles were strips of these blister packs. Each strip represents one dose. In total, I have to take 4 pills at once, or 8 each day. They are fairly good sized too; a pinkish oval about half an inch in size. Certainly easier to accept than an injection, but by the 4th pill they get hard to swallow. The doses are set up so if I need to reduce how much I am taking, I just take one or two less pills to get a proper amount.

So far, I am not experiencing any severe side effects. Maybe a little run down feeling and a bit of joint pain, but nothing I can't deal with. Below is a list of all the side effects recorded during the initial trial, compared to a chemotherapy called dacarbazine. The chemo was (until recently) the best way to fight melanoma.

The long term stuff I have to look out for is rashes, possible hair loss, sun sensitivity, and skin lesions. These are the side effects that often cause the most issues with patients if left untreated. I duly accept my descent into vampirism (no sparkles).

So I take these for two weeks, then report back how I'm feeling. I'd still have another month after that, but they want to measure my reactions to the drug and adjust it if needed. I'll try to keep weekly updates about how I am feeling and if anything weird starts happening.