Just now have time to give you a little update on the completed Step 1
(Assessment) at Mayo. Monday and the first half of Tuesday were filled with all
sorts of tests and sampling. They took 13 separate samples/tests, including a
sample of the bone marrow and numerous X-rays. We had a brief break on Tuesday
afternoon, then all day Wednesday was spent meeting with the RN who will be the
transplant coordinator and the doctor in charge of the procedure.
The upshot of it all is that my heart and lungs are in great shape, and the
other organs such as liver and kidney are in good shape, too. The skeletal frame
is also in good condition, with still no sign of damage from the disease. Cancer
activity in the bone marrow is at 20% - 30% (20% - 30% of the cells are affected
by the cancer). This is still significantly less than the 65% at diagnosis, but
up from the 12% at last measurement 3 years ago. The M-spike indicator of the
cancer showed no increase from last November at Mayo (7 weeks ago), but I'm a
little unsure of those readings.
Carol & I decided to return to Texas for a week of working while in
Step 2 (waiting for insurance to approve further procedures). If all goes
according to plan, we will head back to Rochester on Wednesday afternoon, and
begin Step 3, which will be several days of injections to boost stem cell
production, and getting fitted with hardware called a palidrome (sp?), which is
flexible tubing inserted into a major vein in my chest to allow for extensive
blood work in Step 4.
Thanks for prayers, friendship and concern.
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