July 28, 2003
Friends,
It has been another good day today. I slept pretty well, in spite of the hospital sleep detectors. During the day today I worked for several hours. Just before dinner we went for a walk for about 30 minutes. I was so tired I couldn't eat. I am falling asleep as we speak. I asked my doctor about why induction chemotherapy is followed shortly by a series of continuation or consolidation chemotherapies. The answer was that it has been found that induction chemo leading to complete remission will also lead to a relapse about 90% of the time. Therefore, induction chemo is followed by consolidation chemo. The theory is that even though one appears to be in remission, some of those pesky cancer cells are still hanging around quietly awaiting a good opportunity to start taking over again. The hope is that the consolidation chemo will catch all of those quiescent cancer cells. My doctor said that in my case, the best bet for a cure is probably a bone marrow transplant. Of course, this involves permanently killing off existing bone marrow with aggressive chemo and radiation therapy. We shall have to see.
On the medical front, look at that WBC count!!! It is really going up. They took me off of heparin today, and they are looking into oral antibiotics to replace the IVs. I will soon be free of IVs and IV pumps and stands!! This is a precursor to being able to go home.
Lab Results |
||||
Blood Cell Type |
|
|
|
|
| WBC | 4.5 | .7 | .8 | 1.5 |
| RBC | 4.30 | 2.56 | 2.45 | 3.01 |
| HGB | 13.9 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 9.7 |
| PLT | 130 | 268 | 279 | 298 |
Good night to all.
Ted
tw@wilcoxent.com