This week was spent at MD Anderson undergoing my re-staging
tests…bone marrow biopsy, CT Scan…all my favorites. Yesterday, mom and I met with Dr. Shah for some preliminary
test results. The rest won’t be
back until my next appointment in two weeks.
The good news is that my bone marrow biopsy shows no
residual evidence of any leukemia! We’re still waiting to see how my percentages of cells compared to my
donors stack up. And my white
blood count is still low, but that is normal for someone who is in my
shoes. The good thing is that my
neutrophils are normal so I don’t have to get neopogen shots. Just the other aspects of the WBC are
low. My lungs are good. My scans are normal.
Plus, for whatever reason, probably someone’s prayer, my
hair has stopped falling out like it was, and I can see little baby hair coming
back in. It’s still thin, but it
looks better. Thank you to whoever
prayed.
The extra fluids that I have been getting from my twice
weekly IV’s plus the water I’ve been drinking along with the reduction of Tacro
have all worked together to reduce my headaches. We have perhaps found a connection with hydration and the
headaches. Or maybe it was just
the Tacro. Either way, they’re
better. We are, however, going to
start reducing the IV’s to once a week for now with the goal of cutting them
out entirely, so we shall soon see.
The intestinal issues have improved drastically. Again, everything seems better with the
reduction of Tacro. And they have
taken me down one more this week.
So far so good with no uprising of GVHD.
There is still much to do. I still have to start getting my immunizations. They have been waiting until I have
enough T-cells. I still get fatigued, but I am able to do more than I was. I still need my body to grow
and develop just like a baby grows and develops. My cells are just six months old and still trying to figure
things out. I am finally gaining a
little weight, so that tells me that my body does not have to work quite as
hard as it was.
This has been a long six months. But God has been faithful. My family and friends have been faithful as well. Thank you for your prayers and
thoughts.
Philippians 1:3-7
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always
in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first
day until now. And I am sure of
this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to
completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because
I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace…”
Hi Tamara, just checking in! It sounds like you're doing great!
ReplyDeleteI'm getting over a blood clot. I hope to go from reading your blog and two others to adding a post to mine. I've been so busy I've been leaving people hanging. The blood clot and a couple other business problems got my attention, though, and I'm slooowing down.
I was told last week that I could start tapering tacrolimus as soon as we get this latest round of skin GVH under control. I'm looking forward to that, especially after what you said in the blog.
Take it easy; take it slow. I'm so glad to hear you're going along so well. (Thanks for asking prayers for me; I'm doing much better now that I've slowed down.)
You do not know how much your blog has blessed me. I have spent the last 3 hours reading your entire posts. My husband has CLL at 44 and we are waiting for God to bless us with a donor. Reading your blog and Paul's blog have reassured me that although it is going to be rough in places, we will be able to continually lean on Him to get us through. Blessings and my prayers are with you!
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