Day 50 Coming To A Close

Dr. Hosing had some pretty good news for me last Thursday. My chimerism test came back showing that my T-cells (white cells) and myeloid cells (red cells) are 100% donor cells. So my old system is pretty much gone. I expected that to be the case since it was planned to completely wipe out my old marrow using chemotherapy before the transplant. So if they completely ablate the old marrow, how could the chimerism test be less than 100%? But it was still nice to see the official report.

With the first transplant, we didn't completely ablate my old bone marrow. That's the usual approach since the new cells usually finish the old marrow off. That is less dangerous than a full ablation since with a complete ablation if the new cells don't engraft you are left with no bone marrow. Chances are only about 4% that you won't get engraftment, but nevertheless, it is a little worrisome since you can't live long with no bone marrow. If the engraftment does fail they go back to the donor for another emergency donation, so you still have a chance. Since the first transplant failed with just a partial ablation of my old bone marrow, we had to go with the complete ablation the second time in spite of the additional risk. We had to make sure we got it this time.

My new donor is the same blood type as my first donor, A positive. So I won't be the guy that had three blood types in his life. I'll be sticking with A positive. I was O negative originally.

I got my second negative CMV test in a row. So instead of having to infuse Foscarnet every 8 hours around the clock, I only have to have one infusion a day. That makes my life a lot simpler. I'm still getting magnesium via IV every day, so I just hook up the Foscarnet and the magnesium to run concurrently.

Dr. Hosing also changed my magnesium pills (I get magnesium both ways) to a different kind that is easier on the stomach. That's an improvement in my quality of life as well.

I woke up on the 26th with a little skin GvHD on my face and forehead. So I went to the clinic to get the APN (advanced practice nurse) to look at it. She agreed that it was probably GvHD and prescribed some ointment for it. The ointment worked like a charm and it cleared right up. A little GvHD is actually welcome, if it can be controlled, since it is evidence that the new system is looking for foreign cells to kill. But it's a fine line. I want the disease to be killed off, but I would like the rest of me to escape.

So, all in all, it was a pretty good week, especially since the girls were here to spend Christmas with me. We all went out to my brother's and sister-in-law's house for Christmas dinner. Annette had a delicious dinner prepared and a new Wii game that we had to help hook up. Trust me, we didn't mind. My niece and her hubby (both Aggies like my donor) came over after dinner to supervise the Wii hook up. So we had a house full of adults and almost adults going crazy playing Wii. That was really fun.

So even though it was a very unusual Christmas, it was a good one.

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas. Thanks for all the cards and well wishes.