Tuesday March 3

I continue to gain strength and enjoy my time at home.  Jim and I met with my Doctors yesterday and they are hoping to sketch out a plan this week for the transplant.  They've identified another good donor match and are in the process of confirming their availability.  If further testing shows the donor is a solid match and they are interested/available and they can work with us over the next few weeks, we will move ahead with that donor.  Early indicators are good regarding the donor's commitment to working with us.  Will keep you posted.  There is a plan B if this donor does not work out and I'll detail that if needed.

Later this week I see the cardiologist again and a urologist.  My heart function continues to improve and does not pose an immediate threat to my health or treatment.   We are hoping the heart function gets back to normal (or closer to normal) with the help of beta blockers and simply getting around and building my stamina.  If no improvement is seen, we are still comfortable moving forward with the transplant but it may impact the chemo used (transplant begins with a week of chemo).

In addition my creatine level (a kidney function indicator) is slightly higher than normal.  This could be explained by one of the antibiotics I was taking and may correct itself since I've been off that antibiotic for some time.  Later this week I am getting a kidney ultrasound and seeing a urologist to see if we can learn any more about why this number is high.

I was reminded by my Doctor (Dr. Avigan) that I am quite lucky to be in remission.  As you may recall,the leukemia did not respond to  the first round of chemo  given in December and my Doctors were very worried I would not go into remission with the second round given in January.  Even if I did go into remission they thought it might  not be durable giving us a very small window to move forward with the transplant.  So we could have faced a situation where I moved into  transplant absolutely beat up from the two months in the hospital and two rounds of high intensity chemo (with no time at home to recover) while not in full remission.  The transplant could still have been successful but it would have been exceptionally taxing.

Well your prayers and my tough Irish body won out and I am in a beautiful remission giving us time to find a donor and time for my body to gain strength going into the transplant.  This was beyond anything we could hope for/count on given where I was going into the second round of chemo.

Not sure if this medical stuff is interesting to my loyal readers - it helps me think through what I've heard at the clinic visits so thanks for indulging.

Finally, it has been so great seeing many of you over the last week and a half.  What a gift!  I am starting to work a bit during the day in  between clinic visits and that has been wonderful.  By the evening I am pretty much shot so thanks again to all who have been helping with the meals and kid car pools.

Love seeing your comments and thanks so much for checking in!

Love
Maureen