April 1, 2009 11:35 PM 57 days to go

Well, at last March is behind us and April fool's day is here. It is no April fool's joke that my counts today were perfect. It is probably the only time in my life whereby I have done anything perfectly but I would say that this is the time and place to achieve perfection.

Thus, the doctor's visit was short but, as usual, the lab was behind once again in drawing my blood so that a 2 hour visit turned into about 3 hours. During the doctor visit, I had to have him contact my on-line prescription provider as they were no longer honoring one of my prescriptions for some stupid reason. The issue appears to be resolved. We'll see if that's so when I go to reorder once again.

To answer last week's question from several of you about the 98% becoming 100% - the answer is yes, that should happen. The results from the blood based chimera test confirmed the bone marrow chimera test results. The only additional information that was gleaned was that the T-cell donor to me ratio is 75/25 at this time. The T-cells are the main fighters against foreign elements coming into the body. At this point they were looking for at least a 50/50 split so the doctor was happy with the result. If the ratio continues to increase, it indicates that I will not have any real problems with graft vs host disease. Ultimately, they are looking for a 100/0 ratio. However, the doctor stated that sometimes that does not happen and some of my T-cells could remain. In a few more weeks they will do another chimera test to see how things are progressing.

A couple of asides. During the visit the doctor kiddingly stated that my visiting the clinic on Wednesdays is probably the only "social life" that I have. He is sooooo right. Also, while sitting in the waiting room, you either overhear or engage in conversation with some of the other patients and you continually hear of people who have had a problem or problems along the way. What they speak of never became a part of my experience. I know that I have been extremely fortunate and these episodes only serve to highlight that even further. However, one thing that everyone did agree on was that a positive attitude was a major factor in achieving a positive outcome. Thank you all once again for your thoughts and prayers - this was also mentioned as playing a critical part in one's recovery as well.

So, obviously, I am doing better than well. I feel great and all of my test results confirm that I should. This makes it somewhat frustrating as I would like to be able to do more. But, following the doctor's instructions have brought me to this point and I certainly do not wish to rock the boat at this time.

One step backward in order to take many steps forward...

Bob