Day 52 - Just 48 more to go, hopefully

Well the white counts continue to go up and down. They go down on their own account and come up due to Neupogen shots. I had another one today.

The red counts continue to inch up. In fact the overall red count was 3.98. I haven't seen it above 4.0 in quite awhile. Hemoglobin and hematocrit are nearing normal levels. So good news there. Platelets are hanging in there around 220.

Dr. Khouri tweaked my Tacrolimus Friday. No, get your mind out of the gutter. Tacrolimus is the anti-rejection medicine. He reduced it down to 1 mg per day from 2 mg per day. He wants the new system to work on the disease (CLL) more. Think of the new system as a pit bull on a leash. Dr. Khouri is going to let the leash out. There are still lymph nodes in the neck and under the arms that he can feel. Plus the CT scan from 22 days ago showed that the lymph nodes were still there in the chest and abdomen, although they were generally the same size or a little smaller than they were in the previous scan.

Reducing the anti-rejection medicine theoretically leaves me more prone to GvHD (graft versus host disease). But he says that the Campath, one of the pre-transplant monoclonal antibodies, would help keep the GvHD at bay. As I near the 100 day mark I think he will want me to be on as small a dose of Tacrolimus as possible. I will be on it at home for at least 3 to 6 months after I get home.

At the Day 65 mark they will check the percentage that the new cells have taken over from my own original cells. The new cells were 92% of the total cells at the 30 day mark. So I'm hoping that at Day 65 it's closer to 100%. With the white count still weak, it's doubtful that it will be 100%.

Around Day 90 they will repeat the CT scan and Bone Marrow Aspiration (BMA) and probably the PET scan, too. Those tests will give them a very good picture of where the disease is. It's possible that the CLL won't be there at all. If those scans are okay and my counts are up and stable, then I get to come home. Whoopee.