The target moves again

Notes from the hospital during the playoff games. Jeesh I hope Philly makes this TD.

The target has changed again today; should not [TOUCHDOWN! Philadelphia] be too big a surprise to everyone. It was a pleasant surprise to me.

What has happened is that the percentage of blasts in the bone marrow increased to 16% and a transplant can only happen if the blasts are under 5%. Blasts are immature cells in the bone marrow. Everyone has a certain percentage of immature cells because the bone marrow is constantly making new ones, but in a healthy factory, they mature fast enough and turnover (marrow not the football game) so that the level is not more than 5%. When I entered the hospital in July the number of blasts was around 35%...serious disease level.

Nobody is calling this Leukemia. The technical term is "bump in the road." Dr. McGuirk stated very confidently yesterday "this is a bump in the road. It delays the transplant about 4 weeks. We're still gonna have you back out there living your life a year from now."

The regimen is different than when I originally came to the hospital, and different from the clinic explanation Friday night. I will receive chemo (Cytarabine or "Ara-C") twice a day on days 1, 3 and 5. I expect to return to M&D's house 24 hours after finishing the last dose, hopefully Thursday or Friday. I recover and we resume the transplant process in 4 weeks. I don't know what they count the 4 weeks from, so expect more changes.

Now that I know I'm here for about a week, I kind of like being in the hospital for a while. The last 3 weeks have been such a roller coaster that it's nice to coast downhill for a while. It's also nice to be in a hospital bed that I can get out of any time I want. I have to remind myself of that...the hospital atmosphere includes the subconscious memory of August, 08 when I needed to call someone for everything. This is good practice for the real transplant stay when [Eagles score again!] I expect to be hiking the halls and biking regularly.

Carla came up yesterday and trimmed and styled my hair very carefully. I reminded her it didn't need to be perfect because it won't be on my head for long, but she is a perfectionist and it's a perfect style. So far, nobody has noticed the difference, sigh.

In other news, Walt has landed a plum new position with John Deere that will move him back to Kansas City. YIPPEE! I'll miss visiting him in New Hampshire, but sure will be fun to have him local. He started the job on Friday and does not have moving plans yet. He, and eventually his family, will be staying at my house in Overland Park giving them time to find the perfect house and not have to spend a long period in hotels as they have with other moves. Things have a way of working out.

My job is now two things, exercise and keep eating. I'll be working my way up the Wii Fit games and reducing my physical age. (I can gloatingly report that my physical age was only a bit more than 2 years older than my actual age while Conor's physical age was more than 15 years older than his actual age. ha ha)

The gall bladder surgery [and Philadelphia pulls ahead] stab wounds (another technical term) have healed enough to stop stabbing me and that awful laparoscopic gas has dissipated. I'm reluctant to stop writing since Philadelphia is scoring so much since I started, but I'll settle for waiting til the final score to hit publish.

Cathi
Dang. Cardinals pulled ahead