Day +57 A false start

I was somewhat disappointed this week by a false start on our 60 day evaluation. At 60 days there are several tests that the doctors use to judge the success of the transplant. I am feeling well enough to think that transplant results have to be positive. The prime evaluation tool is a bone marrow biopsy. This is used to measure the presence and density of cancer cells in the bone marrow. There are several other minor tests which are used to complement these results. This evaluation is normally done at the 60 day point to plan on a way forward from here.

The bone marrow biopsy was scheduled for yesterday after two very positive meetings with the doctors on the last two Mondays. Although the bone marrow biopsy is somewhat painful I was hoping that the results would more than offset any discomfort or pain. However after Eileen and I got to the doctor's office they asked me if I had discontinued the blood thinner medicine that I'm taking. I guess I should've asked but no one pointed out the need to discontinue that medicine especially since I'm on a fairly low dose compared to where I was several months ago. Anyway the doctors decided to postpone the biopsy until next week and for me to discontinue the blood thinners until then.

Although this is not a significant setback it does postpone for a week information on how well I've progressed. I'm certainly feeling early good although I do tire relatively easily. I have gone so far as to drive down to Rush on my own this last Monday. First trip down there without someone taking me.

So stay tuned to this station next week to see how the biopsy went.

PS I did venture out to IRM last Saturday for the safety meeting. This is a mandatory meeting for all operating personnel. I am assuming that I will recover well enough to resume an operating role there this summer. This was also my first long-distance outing on my own (a 100 mile round-trip from here). I was able to do this without any drama so I guess the recovery is proceeding. It was great to see some IRM friends that I haven't had a chance to visit with since the Christmas lunch.

Again thanks to everyone that have inquired via e-mail about how things are going.