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Day +220: Feeling great despite the slow, steady progress

 Hello Family and Friends,

I hope this update finds you safe, happy and enjoying much more normalcy than last year.  It's been really exciting to start to get out and do things again and especially hear about all of you planning vacations, socializing, and generally back to normal. 

On the health front, I continue to feel really well during which by all accounts is a successful yet slow recovery.  I'm no longer taking prednisone (steroid to treat my gout), tapered down to just a small dose of the immunosuppressant and on track to ween off a lot of the other meds over the next 6 months.  My blood counts in general are improving, with the exception of my white blood cell count which is still suppressed.  I've needed a monthly shot to boost production of my white blood cells.

I had my 6 month checkup at MD Anderson at the end of April and the results are all very good.  No cancer in my blood, brain tumor or anywhere else for that matter.  My chimerism test results showed 74% of my T-cells are from my donor (26% are my original cells) and almost 100% of my other blood cells are from my donor.  Over time, this needs to get to 100%.  On a related topic, I'm looking forward to re-doing the 23andMe test after I'm at the 100% point to compare my "ancestry" now to my original results from about 5 years ago.  Presumably, I have new DNA and therefore new results.  Will I go from Irish-British-French-German ancestry to something completely different?  Time will tell.

I was vaccinated for COVID with the Moderna vaccine, however did not generate an anti-body response.  This is expected given what I've been through and the immunosuppressent medications.  My doctors say I still have a layer of protection, but I'm continuing to be very cautious and will likely get a booster later this summer or fall.  I love the outdoors, so biking, golfing, hiking, and outdoor bars and restaurants doesn't feel that restrictive to me.

On a personal front, we've been enjoying time with the family this spring and early summer.  Tara set up a 6 week rotation for her Physician Assistant program here in Littleton, so we've had some great times together.  Eric's summer job is mostly in the Denver area, so stays with us a couple nights a week rather than commuting every day from Boulder bringing the band back together.  We've been lucky enough to enjoy some of these early summer evenings with our neighbors.  Life is good!

It's been quite a journey over the past 12-15 months between the pandemic and the transplant.  And my hair has come along for the ride.  From long hair, to getting cleaned up for the transplant, to loosing my hair, to it coming back curly, it has been quite the transformation.

Love to all!

Gary



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