Skip to main content

Day +44: more good news to share

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

Comments

  1. Oh that's great news Gary! Hang tough brother. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very encouraging news Gary!! Happy Holidays!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great news Gary. Best Christmas present of all. Sharon

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gary, GREAT NEWS!! I hope you enjoy the Holiday Season and rejoice in your successful treatment.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What great news, Gary! We knew you were going to do superb, love from Us at Christmastime...

    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...

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...

Day +11 Update (on track so far)

The past week has been tough as I manage the side affects of all the chemotherapy and as the donor cell engraftment process continues.  If you’ve had the unfortunate experience of chemotherapy, you can relate to the fatigue, nausea, hair loss, digestive issues and other side affects.  This is just much worse due to the intensity of the chemotherapy given over a short period of time.  But, the nurses here are absolutely amazing and know how to help you get through it all. Most importantly, all signs are that I'm on schedule and the process continues to progress as planned.   My white blood cell count went to 0.0 on day +6 and has remained there since.  When this count begins to increase, the side affects should lessen.  My platelet count is also low.  Since I had the craniotomy just prior to the transplant, I have an increased risk of serious bleeding.  They are keeping the platelets at a safe level of above 30 which requires almost daily platelet ...