Friday September 11

Quick Summary:  I am responding well to the chemo (one cycle so far since the recurrence of the leukemia).  One measure of this is the absence of ‘blasts’ in my blood according to recent lab results.  Blasts are immature, abnormal white blood cells produced by the marrow that crowd out production of the good cells.  Next steps in my treatment will be determined by a bone marrow biopsy not yet scheduled but likely in the next week and a half.  In the meantime, I will continue to go into the clinic every 4 days or so getting labs taken and replenishments (red blood, platelets, etc.) as needed.  The chemo and other medications impact the target levels and it is standard to get these replenishments at this point in my treatment.

Moe’s Musings…Woke up today feeling strong and well rested.  WOW – I did not fully appreciate how depleted I was until actually feeling good again.  Yesterday (Thursday) had a clinic appointment and my lab tests showed both my magnesium and platelets were both crazy low.  Those were replenished intravenously making for a long clinic day but well worth it!  My prayers to those who have chronic fatigue or pain with no respite - God be with you.  Also many thanks to those who donate blood and platelets – I am your best customer these days.   Never do I hear ‘oh we don’t have that type blood to give you’ or ‘we’re fresh out of platelets’. 

My friend Ellen is due some credit for the rise in my blood counts as we recently enjoyed her gift of  ‘Moe’s Extra Hearty Blood Cell Strengthening Sauce’ (honest to goodness that’s the name she gave her sauce – a great name albeit with  a limited audience J)

Heading back to the clinic on Saturday – it seems I am going in about every 3 to 4 days.  They take multiple vials of blood (the ghouls) and check all sorts of levels.  Based on the story my levels tell them I’ll get some type of replenishment (red blood cells, etc.) – the levels also dictate my next visit…the lower the levels the more frequently I go in to get topped off.

A little more on blasts…One other thing they are looking for in my labs is ‘blasts’ in the blood.  These are abnormal, immature white blood cells that fill the marrow crowding out production of the good cells.  Presence of blasts in the blood is an indicator that leukemia is active.  The presence of blasts in my blood work about a month ago led to the bone marrow biopsy which confirmed the acute myloid leukemia has returned.

In the past few weeks we have been watching the presence of the blasts and they have been going down.  The last three labs showed no blasts at all.  This is great news per my cautious and conservative medical team.  The story this tells is that my leukemia is responding to the chemo. 

So what next…at some point in the next couple of weeks I will have another bone marrow biopsy to learn the status of my disease (sadly lack of blasts by itself does not equal lack of leukemia in the bone marrow).  This will determine the course of treatment – either another round of chemo or straight to the booster infusion of my original donor’s cells.  The cell infusion will strengthen my new immune system again fighting and eradicating any lingering leukemia or any that should surface in the future. 

My understanding is the original transplant worked in that it kept the disease from exploding when it presented itself again.  This is great news – the lousy news is the leukemia returned at all, an indicator it is pretty aggressive.

In other news…Today was the first Friday mass at St Michaels and it was wonderful to be able to attend.  The eight graders watch over the preschoolers at Mass and all us parents of eighth graders were reminded how amazing it is our kids are no longer those little kids being watched over themselves.  Off to dinner and then Jim and Emma head to the North Andover High School football game (go Knights).