June 3, 2004

Main Page • John's Journal (2000-2003) • CLL Information • Contact John • Seattle Cancer Care Alliance • MD Anderson

UPDATE! "A phone call from John's nurse at 8:30am this morning indicated that Preliminary results of John's Day 28 Bone Marrow Tests show no indication of Leukemia Cells in his marrow. Additional tests on the marrow will continue to be run over the next several days, but this is excellent news and we pray the Lord's healing continues!"

Cast all your anxiety upon Him, for He cares for You. 1 Peter 5:7

It's Day 28 since Transplant of my new donor cells. Today is the day doctors want to take a biopsy of my bone marrow to determine how things are looking.
They will test to see how much of my marrow has been taken over by my new donor cells versus how many of my old cells still survive. They refer to this as looking at the Chimerism (mix) of the marrow. Clearly, the goal would be to see the donor cells beginning to dominate the marrow. The lab results of all these tests will take a week or two to be completely finalized, but we should know some early results in a couple of days. A very important item they will examine for will be the number of CLL (Chronic Lymphocyctic Leukemia) cells still drifting around in the marrow. Naturally, I'd like to see them all gone, but once again, the process of eliminating them all can take months as it takes time for the new marrow to completely take over. We also have to be praying for a strong Graft versus Leukemia effects between my donor cells and the Leukemia cells to effectively eradicate all the Leukemia.



So I met with my nice doctor this morning for an explanation of what was ahead for the day and he sent me down to the blood lab to get all my pre-marrow labs
drawn up. As usual, the nurse siphoned off about a gallon of blood. No wonder I feel tired all the time.

From blood lab it was down to the second floor to Radiology and Procedures, a place I have been so many times already and will probably visit many more times before my time is done here.




I had a couple of very nice nurses perform the procedure on me today. I tried a different form of sedation today. They gave my lollipop with a narcotic in it and

amazingly it calmed me right down and within a few minutes I was ready for the procedure. As you can see from the photos they simply lay you on your side, clean the area, stick a relatively long, sharp object into the back of your pelvis to the marrow. The marrow is then drawn out and placed in Petri dishes and test tubes, treated, labeled, and your done. The whole procedure only took about 30 minutes. It was painless and easy. I have absolutely no soreness whatsoever. Great job ladies. Now the marrow goes off to lab to be tested and I'll discuss it with the doctors in the days ahead.

Today was an easy day at clinic. No news yet on any of my marrow results. I did meet with my nutritionist. Despite some challenges with nausea and an upset stomach, I am still managing to eat well and all my nutritional goals are being met. Thank you to Michelle and my Mom for taking such good care of me at the apartment so I maintain these goals. I am still having challenges with my Sodium levels, so doctors are now having me add home infusions of 1000ml of Sodium Soslution in addition to the salt tablets I am taking. I am also being asked to slightly reduce my free water intake so my body can retain more salt. On the positive side, I am grateful I haven't had major issues with diarrhea and/or vomiting. I pray this continues. My number one struggle continues to be fatigue. It's hard to even explain how tired I get. There are days when walking across the apartment is a workout, yet other days I can go downstairs and do a forty-five minute workout in the gym. What a rollercoaster. Each day is different and you just have to be ready for how your body will feel on a given day.

 

 

 

Michelle's been spending her time back and forth trying to see me and take care of the boys at home. Fortunately, my mom has been up here to help take off a huge part of the burden. I sure miss being home with Michelle and the boys though. Being apart from my family continues to be the most difficult part of this whole journey. Please be praying for me in this area.

 

 

 

 

 

I had one last visitor today, by my good friend Jamie from down in Puyallup. We had a great visit. When I am feeling good, it wonderful to get visits because it helps the time go by faster and it takes you back home for a while. Thank again for coming by tonight Jamie.

Thank you again for everyone who continues to lift my family and me up in your prayers:

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You. May the Lift Up His Face and Shine Upon You. May the Lord Give You His Peace. Amen.

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