Tuesday March 15

How great it was to have  my mom in town this last week. Jim just took her into the airport and I am already looking forward to her next trip out. Emma started volleyball this week with rowing right around the corner. Joseph has kept busy this first week home.  He'll be coming with me to the clinic tomorrow.

Medical Update. The chemo I received in the hospital did a great job reigning in my leukemia. As expected we are going to supplement that infusion chemo (MEC) with a pill that acts as both a chemo drug and an immune accelerant. I started that pill yesterday. Initially we were going to give me a little more time to recover from the MEC but the doctors find I am tolerating that chemo very well and are comfortable bringing in this pill which I will take  as  an outpatient. Next up will be a bone marrow biopsy to determine the status of my disease. From there likely some type of cell infusion from my original donor. My job now is to eat and drink and stay virus free. My white counts are super low so I am again under restrictions to keep me as strong as possible. One bummer is the persistence of my mouth sores. Currently very painful to eat, drink and even talk. Hopefully the further I get from the MEC chemo the more those will heal.

So very grateful to be  navigating all of this as an outpatient.  Any fever or reaction they don't feel I can manage at home will put me temporarily back in the big house. For now really lucky to be home and showing some good signs of healing.

Thanks for checking in. Love Maureen