Skip to main content

Day +34: enjoying freedom and steady improvement

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 percentage of cells from the donor vs. my original cells.  Did you know it’s possible to have 2 different sets of DNA in a single body?  This is called human chimerism, a very rare condition that can occur naturally.   The things you learn through the process and when you have a lot of free time.  I won’t get the results for about 10 days.  Meanwhile, my daily return visits to MD Anderson have reduced to just Tuesdays and Fridays.

We rented an apartment (https://goo.gl/maps/BS9tYJLWS39uxxyP8) for December and January and are really happy with the choice. It’s a bit further away from the medical campus, but within the 15 minute requirement with a commute that stays off the crazy Houston highways.  

We’ve been spending our time going on short walks, cooking, watching lots of TV, and doing the 1000 piece “Big House” puzzle (thanks again Mitch, it’s a big challenge like Michigan football as of late).  The real exciting news is that we’re planning to have Tara and Eric drive down from Denver for a visit over Christmas.  Can’t wait!

Stay safe and hope everyone is healthy,

Gary



Comments

  1. Rosemary SladeDecember 11, 2020 at 9:37 AM

    Gary, I am SO pleased to hear about your improving condition, and your never ending optimism (with each new challenge that gets in the way).

    I’m particularly excited to hear you’re able to get out for short walks!! Sending love to you & the Greishaber tribe😍

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nort and SusanDecember 12, 2020 at 3:40 PM

    Gary good for you to overcome the side effects and continue to increase counts! We love you and think about you constantly. Pretty soon you'll be on your bike...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Story

 Hello Family and Friends, Thank you for following my blog and your love and support over the years and especially now during my Journey to a Cure.  I thought I would start this BLOG by telling my story and how I got to the point where a bone marrow transplant is the next best step in my cancer battle.  And hopefully a long term, durable cure. In September 2008, during a routine physical exam, my white blood cell count came back unusually high. The next month was busy with many doctor appointments, tests, learning, and ultimately a diagnosis - at the age of 44 I had cancer and specifically CLL or Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.   CLL is usually an older patient disease, a slowly progressing disease, and at the time already had some good treatment options.  Many CLL patients never need treatment and I had the “good marker”, 13q deletion to be technical. CLL is not hereditary (although my Uncle Marc did have CLL later in his life) and like many cancers the exact cau...
8 comments
Read more

The Process

In prior posts, I’ve referred to the “process” of the bone marrow transplant.  And quite the complex, multiple step and lengthy process it is. The first step is to repeat a series of outpatient tests to confirm that I’m fit for the transplant.  This is ongoing for the week of October 5th at MD Anderson.  At the end of this testing, I will get a central venous line (CVC) inserted for the next steps and ultimately the donor stem cell infusion. I’ll check into the hospital on October 10 to begin the second step which is referred to as “conditioning”.  This involves chemotherapy to bring your immune system to zero in order to prepare for its replacement with the donor’s immune system.   During this time, the donor will be going through a procedure called Apheresis to harvest his stem cells from his peripheral blood. The cells will be cryogenically frozen and transported to MD Anderson.  The donor cells were collected on October 7 and now on the way to Houston. ...
3 comments
Read more

Day +108: Back home in Colorado

 “Country roads, take me home, to the place, I belong” We arrived in Houston on October 28, 2020 during the aftermath of Hurricane Zeta and finally left Houston on February 19, 2021 during the cleanup of the worst winter storm to hit Texas in decades.   That’s 114 days for those counting, like Connie and I.  The winter disaster in Texas was as crippling as you read - millions including us were out of power, heat, water and even internet for several full days.  Even the hospitals were closed for a full week, primarily due to a lack of running water.  Houston really showed it’s true colors with neighbors helping each other and even “Mattress Mack” opening his mattress showrooms to help those in need of a warm place to sleep. The big Day +100 milestone (from the donor cell transplant on November 6th) came and went as it was overshadowed by the winter disaster.  We had remained in Houston for a final blood test in order to leave with confidence that my White Bl...
3 comments
Read more