Update # 2

On Monday afternoon, Carol & I sat in a small consultation room at the Mayo Clinic, and a very solemn faced doctor apologetically gave us the very bad news. Based on results from blood samples taken that morning, it appeared that the stem cell transplant had failed to alleviate the cancer. She was bewildered and obviously felt very badly for us, but could offer no explanation. We would sample again in June, and make plans to attack the cancer via chemotherapy. It's not just going back onto chemo that was the bad news - it was loss of a nice number of years off of the survival timeline, whatever that timeline might be.

On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, after returning to Dallas, we spoke to the same doctor via telephone calls and got just the opposite news. She had received results of the bone marrow biopsy, and just as bad as the blood analysis was in the bad direction, so was the bone marrow biopsy extremely to the good in the good direction. The biopsy showed the cancer to be at 2% or less in the bone marrow, by far the lowest it has ever been since diagnosis (it was 64% at diagnosis, 12% when my blood showed cancer to be the lowest in May 2010, and about 25% prior to the stem cell transplant in January). The bone marrow biopsy declares the transplant to be a success, but no one is using the R word (remission) as of yet.

Officially, we are awaiting another blood sampling to be done in June before any declarations are made, but the Mayo cancer doc is very optimistic. She described the Monday blood sample, in her medical terminology, to probably be "just a flukey test."

So, what has happened? In short, on Monday afternoon we got some very bad news, a lot of people did a lot of praying, and on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons we got some very good news. I did nothing at all to merit this good news. Thanks to all of you for your praying, and please continue to do so. To God be the glory for the great things He has done.

100 day post transplant check up

in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1Th　5:18　NAS)

I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth (Psa　34:1　ESV

Today I saw the doctor at Mayo for my 100 day check up following transplant. To say that it didn't go as well as we had hoped would be a serious understatement. To say that it was worse than our worst imaginings would be accurate.

We are still awaiting results of the bone marrow biopsy, but based on analysis of the blood samples, it appears that the transplant had little to no appreciable impact on diminishing the cancer. The cancer is actually higher now than it was when we left here in February, or about half the level it was when we came here in January, and growing at a substantial rate.  For now, the plan is to check the blood again in about a month, and probably resume some form of chemotherapy soon thereafter.

So frequently Christians quip off "praise the Lord" in response to good news, and we should, but a proper understanding of theology is that God is always good, always kind, always loving, and always deserving of the most enthusiastic praise our hearts can ever muster, so in this, too, we give thanks and give praise.

I thank all for their prayers on my behalf. Please keep it up.

My Hair

I lost all hair on the top of my head and most of my beard during chemo at Mayo. As of April 29, I now have a full beard back, and a definite discernable fuzz on the top of my head.

Epilouge

It has been brought to my attention that I have not made any blog entries since coming home. My apologies for leaving the story incomplete. I was discharged from the program at Mayo on Feb. 14. It took us more than a half day to wrap up our business in Rochester and get checked out of the Gift of Life house, but we left early afternoon, and made it as far as Des Moines, Iowa, before stopping for the night. We were planning to take two more days for the trip home, but we got up Saturday morning and drove the whole way.

We arrived home at 10:30 PM on Saturday evening, Feb. 16. Our neighbors had the yard all spiffied up, spic and span clean, with new flowers planted and a welcome back heart on the door. They had even bought some basic grocery for us so we wouldn't have to stop late to do so. They sure knew how to make us feel welcomed back into our own home.

I started working a few hours from home the week after we got back, and then going in a few hours every day or so the week after that, gradually building my time back up. I took six weeks to transition back into working full time.  With all the sickness going around at our church, we were home for a month before we attended in person, as opposed to watching via live streaming on the computer.

Finis

I have been graduated, discharged, and generally kicked out of the Bone Marrow Transplant program at Mayo. The doc thinks it likely may have been a success; we won't know for sure until the 100 day check up in May. Having survived it at all is literally its own milestone.

The M-spike dropped from 2.4 to 0.9, and should fall some more. Think of proteins still being in the blood, and continuing with half-lives until diluted with new and good blood being produced from the marrow. Another indicator of the cancer, something called kappa light chains that we typically haven't monitored, has decreased to 10% of the pre-treatment value.

Our plans are to ease on out of town today and take 2 or 3 days for an easy trip back to Texas.

I am feeling good.  It is good to have this behind us, and we are hopeful that it will have accomplished the purpose for which we undertook it. Thanks for the prayers and encouragement.

Hospitalized

Late Thursday evening, 2/7, I was admitted to hospital with fever, and severe shakes and chills. It turns out my body was producing an abundance of white blood cells (WBCs), a condition called peri-engraftment, or engraftment syndrome. The function of white cells is to attack things, and these were young and inexperienced WBCs who bent themselves on attacking anything and everything in the body, and creating general mayhem.  After running lots of tests to exclude other possibilities, things got under control by 2:00 AM Friday.

As a precaution, I was kept in hospital Friday and Saturday for observation and very lengthy IV infusions of various antibiotics and things.  Sunday I was released, and I am now back at the Gif of Life House on out patient status with Mayo.

Indicators

While it is still too soon to say that engraftment has occurred, there are some promising indicators over the past few days.  After the white blood cell count bottoming out and staying for several days at 0.1, it increased to 0.2 yesterday, and 0.4 today.  This most likely means that the new stem cells are making themselves at home in the marrow, and making those WBC’s.  I am also facing less fatigue and nausea (still a lot, just less, and more manageable).
 

Our daily routine is still to go to the hospital every morning, and now every evening as well for various medications, blood draws, and some transfusions. We were there until 10:30 PM last evening.  We usually ride the shuttle van now in the mornings, and take our car in the evenings when the van doesn’t make its runs.
 

Rochester remains a winter wonderland.  After a week of temps in the -10 to +15 range, today starts a stretch in the 20’s and 30’s.  A fresh falling of snow makes it all look nice.
 

Thanks for all the love, prayers and concern.