Day 59 and getting closer

Dr. Khouri is going to let me go home for a few days for Thanksgiving providing things remain stable for the next couple of weeks. At the same time he is reducing my Tacrolimus dose to just 1/2 mg per day, down from 1 mg per day. This is to induce the new cells to attack the CLL. There are still nodes noticeable in my neck which he wants to reduce in size. Within the next couple of months these lymph nodes should go back to normal size if things work as planned.

Reducing the Tacro level also increases the risk of GvHD. If I get a bad case of GvHD the trip home will have to wait. The good news is that the residual Campath should continue to suppress the T cells and, hence, the GvHD. So the next couple of weeks should be very telling.

I'll have to return to MDA after Thanksgiving for scans and bone marrow tests. But maybe they won't keep me but a week or so. So the end of this part of the ordeal will be over soon. I'll have to return for frequent scans and checkups over the first year and twice a year for the next five years.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers for me through this very interesting adventure. Keep up the good work - please! Also, please remember that this place is crawling with people who need all the prayers they can get each and every day. It's hard to feel sorry for yourself here because around every corner is someone in much worse shape. At the same time it's hard to find someone who is not upbeat and determined! After going through cancer treatment your outlook on many things changes. Things that used to be important aren't so much any more, and vice versa.

Enjoy each and every day.