Met with Dr. Holmberg today and got some good news! The GVD has further shrunk my cancer to the point where I now only have "mild residual disease". It's not perfect (remission would be ideal) but it's good enough for me to enter into the tandem auto stem cell transplant trial which offers me roughly a 20% additional chance of a cure. Like I've said all along, anything that helps me toward a cure I'm all for...
So, from here, I can relax for a couple of weeks (now that I have my bone marrow biopsy out of the way). My Dad and my Stepmom are coming out the 31st for a long weekend visit where I'm going to belatedly help him celebrate his 60th birthday, yee haw! If the weather is nice, we're going to attempt to play this beautiful golf course, Chambers Bay which is right on Puget Sound and future host to PGA tour events. Who knows, maybe we'll even go out for Halloween!
After that, it's down and dirty again with the first transplant starting 1st week of November. It's scary as SCT regimen's carry a 6-8% mortality rate. I have to be really careful of infections (germs, viruses, etc...) as my immune system is going to be totally wiped out TWICE. This means obsessive hand washing, careful food preparation (most likely lots of microwave dinners), avoiding crowds, etc... Basically, I'm going to be a hermit for the next few months. Good thing I just signed up with Direct TV and have all the movie channels. I also think I'm going to get the NBA pass so I can keep up with my Pistons. I've recently taken up painting so that should keep me busy too. I just need to get through this without getting any infections because if I do, it means isolation in the hospital. The SCCA is one of the few institutions that do SCT's outpatient and if possible, I'd like to keep it that way as I can't stand hospitals.
Anyway, I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on this later, I'm just thankful and grateful that I have a chance to do the tandem transplant. Thank you God!
2 comments:
Hey Chris !!! Thats great news. You deserve a nice long rest before you start your new regime. You and Jackie both need this long weekend to sit back,take a deep breath and enjoy. We stopped by your Moms new place,you would be impressed. Rich and her have a beautiful new home, she has a lot of work ahead of her, but is going to take it one day at a time. Its funny how much stuff you can accumulate. I wouldn't know where to begin. Rich did a lot of work to get the place ready to move in he did a great job. Nichole seems real happy too. Well kiddo congratulations again, your going to defeat this thing, our prayers are with you every day. You guys have a great weekend. Love Uncle Tom and Auntie Linda Ps. First time in 51 home games Lions haven't sold out a game. Maybe the fans are starting to send a message eh. Wish your Dad a Happy Birthday. Wow 60 time sure flys. Take care.
Chris,
So glad to hear of the progress on your last round of chemo and that they will be doing the two part SCT. Know you'll hang tough and kick it's butt. Regarding the microwave meals, be sure to heat them as per instructed, heard a report recently on NPR that people have not been heating them sufficiently and have gotten sick due to not reaching a proper internal temp, especially with the chicken meals. Hope you get out on the course with your dad and also see some ghosts and goblins. Wish you could be here, the girls are both totally excited about Halloween. Thanks also for the most recent pictures, along with writing and painting, you'll probably also be doing some professional photography on the side. Please forward some photos of your painting, would love to take a gander. Take care, you are in our thoughts and prayers daily.
Love,
Rob, Christy, Nicole and Julia
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