March 19, 2009 9:55 PM 70 days to go

Not much to discuss about today but there are a few items that are left over from yesterday...

First of all, I still feel fine - there is no change in my condition. Most certainly I want to keep it that way and God has granted my wish up to this point. Not to shed any doubt on my condition, but I have full faith and confidence that things will continue like this on down the road.

Now back to the leftovers...

The doctor mentioned that both me and my donor are subject to getting CMV. Reading up on this, I see that with my immune system compromised that it can be a problem. I am not sure why my donor stands to be at risk as well. In any case, this is the reason for the weekly visits at this point. If I show any symptoms - fever, swollen glands, or fatigue then they will give me a drug to counteract the disease. Unfortunately, according to the doctor, the side effects are not pleasant so they take the "wait and see" approach before administering it. In the past, they were more proactive by giving the drug up front to prevent CMV from occurring - but the cons far outweighed the pros so they are now taking this new approach.

Also, this time the bone marrow biopsy has a chimera component to it. Supposedly, the results from yesterday's biopsy will be ready by next Wednesday so we can get a preview as to whether or not the donor's marrow is doing the job that it's supposed to do. However, I guess that the blood test is the "real McCoy" and that won't be ready until the following week.

As for me, as much as I want to know that everything is OK in that department, I really want to know that my marrow is still cancer free. If it's not, then it's going to be a few steps back before we can take the necessary steps to go forward once again. To be honest with you, I really do not wish to undergo another round of chemo. So please pray for a clean marrow result.

That's about it at this point...

Bob