Journey to a Cure

I had what I’m calling a progress report yesterday with the transplant doctor and team, and couldn’t be happier with the report. The bone marrow aspiration showed no trace of leukemia.  This test measures the number cancer cells out of 10,000 and the result was a perfect zero.  The Chimerism test to determine the % of donor vs. original cells was a conclusive 100% donor which means the engraftment process is moving right along.  I continue to go in for twice weekly check ups at MD Anderson as I continue to progress through the key first 100 day post transplant period and monitor for infection or symptoms of GVHD. Merry Christmas All, Gary

Last week brought a couple of challenges.  The combination of high blood pressure and gout made for a slow week.  High Blood pressure is a common side affect from the anti-donor rejection med tacrolimus.  The Gout attack was a side effect from the chemo which breaks down the urate crystals in your body into Uric acid which goes directly to the colder big toe part of the body.  I had not idea how painful and debilitating gout can be, but now I appreciate what others go through.  Once again it was medicine to the rescue and those issues are now mostly under control. I have only needed platelets once and have not needed a whole blood transfusion over 10 days while my counts continue to improve.   This means my body is working.   I had a couple of key tests this week to measure the progress. First is a bone marrow biopsy to determine if there is any remaining cells with leukemia.  The second is a blood test, called Chimerism, to determine the percenta...