Lucky Tuesday

In my last post I wrote "I'm thinking lucky for Tuesday" referring to the next clinic visit with a provider.
And what a LUCKY TUESDAY it turned out to be.

The biopsy report was a bit strange...never had one quite like it before. "No genetic markers." Does that mean no 5q-? YES IT DOES! "No evidence of XX chromosomes." Does that mean my marrow is all donor (XY chromosomes?) YES IT DOES!

No percentages. No list of genetic oddities. Just no host cells.

How cool is that? I have to tell you it took a little while to switch my outlook from sick to well...at least 5 minutes and a trip to the bathroom. Dad was with me and it was hours before he could talk without choking up.

My counts are still on the low side, but not low enough to need transfusions. Hopefully they will gradually rise to normal levels over the next few weeks. I warned Conor and Annie that as soon as they are high enough for me to fly, I will be visiting to spend more time with my grandson!

Dad and I went to First Watch and ate pancakes to celebrate. Then I packed a bag and hopped in the car with him for a trip to the lake house. Which is why it has taken me so long to update the blog. Mom went to Wichita Tuesday morning with sister Lori to help sister Mari unpack after she moved. Dad and I went to the lake house to make sure the furnace was working and to put the ice eater in the water. I had not been to the lake house since 2007 but it was the same. The same peace and calm was there that I enjoyed.

Alas, we were waaaaay too late to get the ice eater in. Dad chopped one small hole in the ice but that was all that was giving. The first hole was close to the dock, about 4" thick ice. The second hole attempt was in the middle of the slip and 4" wasn't even close to all the way through. The cove was frozen over from shore to shore. But all the floats were intact and I reckon they were pretty much encased in ice so hopefully they will last through this freeze. An ice eater churns up the water so that it can't freeze.

We went out to eat at the lake last night and I enjoyed fried catfish. I can't explain how good restaurant food tastes. Tonight I went over and fixed chili for me and Dad and I note their house is looking very "pre-rehab ward." No rolls of paper towels everywhere. Dad back in his chair that I had commandeered. There is still a basket of pills on the counter--obviously some I no longer take.

I will still take a pile of pills for a while, particularly those aimed at preventing pneumonia. But it will soon be a year since I've had pneumonia, which was a milestone I was looking forward to. However, I do not have to take any anti-rejection drugs. Bone marrrow transplants are different than organ transplants. They work or they don't.

I was so surprised to hear my blood is all boy. I was hoping there was enough boy blood for a booster to be possible. I like my theory that the 2 weeks of Revlimid disemboweled my cells enough to cause them to roll over and play dead so Walt's cells could get busy and take over. I'm not sure the doctors buy it but I haven't heard a better explanation from them.

Walt spent 5-6 hours in the chair in the aphereses lab while they extracted T-cells for a booster. Those babies went in the freezer, and it looks like the freezer is where they will stay. I'm grateful my brother has been willing to sit in that uncomfortable chair 3x for me.

I'm grateful to everyone for the prayers and positive thoughts all during this. Shoot, I'm tickled people remember me after a year and a half!

I'm going to continue living in my house like a healthy person. I have been able to work just a little bit. I have some new pictures [of myself] but I can't seem to lay my hands on the gear to load them up to my computer right now. My house looks like a very busy person lives here. There are piles everywhere, of clean laundry, dirty laundry, mail, newspapers, and the clean dishes have not been unloaded from the dishwasher for 3 days.

So celebrate with me. This is just a most awesome situation I'm in.
I will get through my piles and post again.
~Cathi