Hope is the thing...

First, the headlines from John's one year evaluation. John's bone marrow shows no signs on leukemia. It is 100% donor DNA and he is not O negative. That is the news you want to hear.

He does show signs of chronic graft vs. host disease (GVH), which, if it doesn't require treatment, is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it means that his immune system is on the watch for anything foreign, including its new host, but also any leukemia cells. On the other, John has to be alert for anything that might cause his immune system to overreact. That includes sunburn, colds and on and on ad nauseum (literally).

His GVH shows up now in his platelet count (which is below normal (100 instead of 150 to 350), his eyes (which don't make enough tears), his mouth (which has mild inflamation) and his skin (which tests positive and would burn easily). As time passes, and if nothing causes a flare-up, his GVH should diminish over the years. Seattle now has bone marrow transplants twenty years out and doing well.

John may need tear duct plugs to keep his eyes from draining and he isn't thrilled with that idea. Tears lubricate the cornea and prevent scarring and thus blindness, so he has to "watch" this issue. His hair may continue to come back a bit, but there are plenty his age with less to show and that is a common effect of the Busulfin he took before the transplant (the chemo that was so strong the pill bottles had to be burned).

The Fred Hutchinson Center to the right, as seen from our Residence Inn window, remains as impressive as I remembered it. Plenty of people there remembered him and he seemed to feel comfortable and "at home." His long-term follow up doctor was thoughtful enough not only to give him his report, but talk to him about adjusting to "life" again and the additional dimension that having been ill adds to the process of deciding what to do with your life.

As for life, John's odds have gone from one in five surviving to one in five recurring, and maybe better, since he went into remission on his first round of chemo, is young and received top notch care. At 18 months, his odds improve further and at five years, he has no more chance of having leukemia than anyone else.

While there, John got his first round of childhood immunizations and will need follow-up shots. He will need to establish an exercise program as well, which will be convenient here in the neighborhood with a "Y" nearby.

This is the view of the lake from Fred Hutchinson and of Queen Anne hill where we lived. Although it rained most of the week we were there, I did get an hour to sail at the Center for Wooden Boats, http://www.cwb.org/. Before we left on Thursday, we shopped at Pike's Market and ended up finding a great comic store for John and hat shop for me. I used the opportunity to persuade John to buy a sun hat of sorts.

John is proceeding toward the Masters idea from Georgia State, but also thinking of other options, including "sequential art" at SCAD here in Atlanta, which would be a natural for him.

Courtney has settled in with us and become rather good friends with Debbie. Courtney had a birthday party (her 20th) Friday night. Between parties, girlfriends, boyfriends, roommates and such, we seem to have a house full most of the time, although it never seems crowded, especially when we retreat to the attic.

Thinking about life after leukemia applies to everyone affected by it, and that includes me. I've had to scale back my volunteer and social things, what with plagues, wandering in the wilderness, and everything but locusts. I have in mind doing something for myself. There is a 50 year old wooden sloop in Salem, Mass. that I have found for sale. I've lined up a marine surveyor who grew up playing on Old Ironsides and who has owned wooden boats his entire life. If he approves, I have a transporter lined up who has moved old wooden America's Cup yachts over land.

Sounds expensive, but it's actually not. The real "cost" of yachts, especially wooden ones, is in time and upkeep. If it comes together in the next few weeks....

Life goes on, but the story for this blog has fortunately, just about run its course. I have perhaps one more post to make before long.

For now, I'm pleased to close this chapter with the hope that we will all live happily ever after.