Day 31
The Prednisone seems to have helped John. Since Saturday, he has improved overall, with something of a appetite, less nausea, and more of a human's energy level, rather than that of a slug on sedatives. We even took an hour out Sunday afternoon to go to the bookstore, which is the adventures around the town. That was actually the first trip out he has taken since he was released from the hospital. He has developed, um, what would be a polite term, a hurried need for quiet time alone, which, apart from being unpleasant, could be a sign of GVHD, a digestive infection or just bad cooking. Mostly though, John is better, and that is good.
Tomorrow John has his first post-transplant bone marrow biopsy. That's when they stick a needle the size of a first grade pencil into your hip bone and then suck the insides out. John's actually gotten "used to" that and can now grade both the nurses and the anesthesiologists on their skills. He should have one more before we go home.
The purpose of the test is to look directly into where the leukemia began, rather than indirectly, through the blood cells the marrow forms. Anything less than 5% "blast" or malformed cells is considered remission. Detecting none is even better, but "Cure" is only used by people in this business who happen to like the rock group of the same name. John's engraftment seems strong, so I really expect good results from this test, even though there are plenty of patients who relapse.
One of the odd things about transplants is that a little GVHD can be a good thing, because it means the new immune system is able to attack things it deems foreign, including blast or leukemia cells. A little bad can be good, which seems to be a footnoted exception to the rule that two wrongs don't...
Debbie arrived back today from her ABA meetings with hints of a sore throat. She has been quarantined upstairs and I disinfect myself anytime I pass between floors. Courtney returns Tuesday night, which will be a treat for everyone, but especially John.
Over the weekend on Saturday and Sunday mornings, I rode my $20 ten speed bike on two hour
Not bad for being 50 and 363 days old. The interesting thing is that, as long as you are peddling fast enough, you can stay ahead of all the things that life tries to load onto your back.
Today was the last day of the Supreme Court's term and there were two big cases that the court saved until the end to decide. One had an indirect effect on a lot of the customers that I "work for", so to speak. It would have been good to be able to address what happened from the office, but I'm hopeful that I will be back for good soon.
Tomorrow John has his first post-transplant bone marrow biopsy. That's when they stick a needle the size of a first grade pencil into your hip bone and then suck the insides out. John's actually gotten "used to" that and can now grade both the nurses and the anesthesiologists on their skills. He should have one more before we go home.
The purpose of the test is to look directly into where the leukemia began, rather than indirectly, through the blood cells the marrow forms. Anything less than 5% "blast" or malformed cells is considered remission. Detecting none is even better, but "Cure" is only used by people in this business who happen to like the rock group of the same name. John's engraftment seems strong, so I really expect good results from this test, even though there are plenty of patients who relapse.
One of the odd things about transplants is that a little GVHD can be a good thing, because it means the new immune system is able to attack things it deems foreign, including blast or leukemia cells. A little bad can be good, which seems to be a footnoted exception to the rule that two wrongs don't...
Debbie arrived back today from her ABA meetings with hints of a sore throat. She has been quarantined upstairs and I disinfect myself anytime I pass between floors. Courtney returns Tuesday night, which will be a treat for everyone, but especially John.
Over the weekend on Saturday and Sunday mornings, I rode my $20 ten speed bike on two hour
Not bad for being 50 and 363 days old. The interesting thing is that, as long as you are peddling fast enough, you can stay ahead of all the things that life tries to load onto your back.
Today was the last day of the Supreme Court's term and there were two big cases that the court saved until the end to decide. One had an indirect effect on a lot of the customers that I "work for", so to speak. It would have been good to be able to address what happened from the office, but I'm hopeful that I will be back for good soon.
