I thought I'd spend these few moments ruminating about the day ahead. I feel strangely calm and know that whatever path I take today, I won't walk alone.
After a pre-transplant dental evaluation, I have an appointment with my oncologist to find out the results of the bone marrow biopsy he did on Monday. I'll have lab work done to see where my counts are, and also a repeat CAT scan to check the fungus in my lungs. If I'm on the right medication, and they've identified the fungus correctly, there should be some improvement.
If the biopsy shows I'm in remission, I have a date at Dana Farber for transplant #2 on June 12. That's when the pre-conditioning would start, with transplant about a week later. If the leukemia is still kicking around, I may need another course of chemo--difficult to fathom thinking back on the past 5 weeks. Transplant could be delayed, although if the leukemia isn't out of control, they might still recommend I go straight to transplant.
In the meantime, I have a lot going on this weekend--all good things, the things that make me stay in this fight. Mark is running in 3 events at the RI State Track Meet on Saturday. On Sunday, he graduates from high school. I will have to wear a mask to graduation, but that's a small price to pay to be able to attend. I'm sure people will steer clear of me, thinking I'm the infected one.
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Adirondack Mountains, Feb. 2007
Tale of a Cord Blood Transplantee Who Relapses and Goes on to Have a Matched Unrelated-Donor Transplant
The Weight
Adirondack Mountains, Feb. 2007
ABOUT ME
In March 2006, I was diagnosed with a blood cancer called Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). Life as I knew it came to a crashing halt. After enduring a month in the hospital where I received intense chemotherapy, I was declared "in remission." I had three additional treatments and remained cancer-free until May 2007, when I relapsed.
My only shot at survival was to have a stem cell transplant. However, my brothers' immune markers didn't match mine, and an international search of bone marrow registries found no perfect matches. A transplant using the blood from two umbilical cords was recommended. I grasped at this straw in September 2007. It seemed to work.
This blog tells the story of my transplant and recovery, replete with outrageous slings and arrows. The expression "blood is thicker than water" has new meaning for me. I remained alive due to the blood of strangers, two of them, both male. Thanks guys.
The plot thickened when I relapsed 19 months into my new remission and had to go through the same rigamarole once more. This time, I received stem cells from a matched adult donor who was identified last go round but didn't fit into the necessary time frame. Charles Dickens could have fun with this, the stuff of pulp fiction.
I remain in remission 4 years later. My donor keeps leukemic cells in check but finds interesting ways to attack my body. Chronic graft versus host disease keeps me firmly entrenched in the medical world. And so it goes.
My only shot at survival was to have a stem cell transplant. However, my brothers' immune markers didn't match mine, and an international search of bone marrow registries found no perfect matches. A transplant using the blood from two umbilical cords was recommended. I grasped at this straw in September 2007. It seemed to work.
This blog tells the story of my transplant and recovery, replete with outrageous slings and arrows. The expression "blood is thicker than water" has new meaning for me. I remained alive due to the blood of strangers, two of them, both male. Thanks guys.
The plot thickened when I relapsed 19 months into my new remission and had to go through the same rigamarole once more. This time, I received stem cells from a matched adult donor who was identified last go round but didn't fit into the necessary time frame. Charles Dickens could have fun with this, the stuff of pulp fiction.
I remain in remission 4 years later. My donor keeps leukemic cells in check but finds interesting ways to attack my body. Chronic graft versus host disease keeps me firmly entrenched in the medical world. And so it goes.
4 comments:
Enjoy every minute of this weekend. You certainly deserve it.
Enjoy your time at home. Wish you all the best!
Let them steer clear! Make way for duckling! I'm wishing, hoping and praying....
You have a fungus in your lung too? Another way in which we are doppelgangers. Hope you got a good report and that you are having a good weekend.
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