New Update - Can You Believe It?

I know it's been a while since my last update. And I believe we were talking about DLI's and the ongoing transplant process.

Well, I did receive the third DLI (donor lymphocyte infusion) last month. Dr. Khouri decided to give me about half of the the normal 3rd DLI volume. The first DLI is 1 million cells, the second DLI is 10 million cells, and the third DLI is supposed to be 100 million cells. They literally freeze the cells to keep them so they don't have to go back to the poor donor so many times. The third batch is so big that they have to put it in two bags. But that allows some flexibility to split the third DLI into two, which is exactly what they did. They did that because I was having some skin GvHD and they didn't want to induce a raging case of GvHD which can cause a lot of problems, including death - details, details.

So next week I get to go back and get the fourth bag of lymphocytes. They will also do a complete restaging, which means all the scans and tests. After this last bag of lymphocytes has had a chance to work we will restage again. If the tests show we are making progress in wiping out my old system I will be a happy camper. If they show little progress I probably get to do another transplant sometime soon - oh boy.

In the meantime I've been working every day and keeping a somewhat normal routine. I don't have the energy level that I had a couple of years ago. But considering everything I've been through I can deal with my current energy level.

Thanks for your interest. I'll keep blogging.