Swing and a Long Drive... Outta Here!

Tue Apr 23, 2024
AML 3.0 treatment - Day 36

OK... good news... the Bone Marrow Biopsy (BmBx) is relatively clean. We still need more detailed analysis (which will take time) but based on what we know right now, Dr. Chai-Ho feels comfortable with the results -- i.e. no sign of disease in my bone marrow -- and wants to take a short break between Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 to allow my counts to recover.  And yes, she's sending me home!

[UPDATE: BmBx was clean!  No sign of disease.  This is great news.]

So tomorrow, I'm "Outta here" and it'll be a "Long Drive" -- RIP HK --  from LA to SF. That'll give me almost a week at home with the fam before I fly to NOLA. Yup. JazzFest is on! See you soon, Dougie! Oh, and boo, I'm gonna listen to a bunch of that Audiobook Lori recommended during the drive!

Now, if I'm outta here tomorrow, why am I in the infusion center right now getting platelets and blood? Well, it turns out that the leading indicator of count recovery is the Neutrophils. As you can see, they are trending up.

The Platelets and Hemoglobin recover more slowly and don't seem to have stabilized yet.  This kinda freaked me out when I saw the results of this morning's CBC come in to MyChart but Dr. Chai-Ho assured me that these always take longer to recover -- she wasn't concerned at all.

As you can see below, both Platelets and Hemoglobin got a bump from the Apr 16 transfusion, but both have since fallen off.  Note that transfusions do not affect Neutrophils. That recovery is all me. Yeah boy!

So what happens after NOLA?  Well, we start Cycle 2 on May 8th. And, as it turns out, Dr. Chai-Ho wants me down here for the first 7 days of Cycle 2. So, I'll be back down here for a week and then back home for the rest of the cycle (3 more weeks) and the post-cycle (2-3 week) break. Then, for Cycle 3 -- if we need to do it at all -- the hope is, I'll only need to be down here for the first day of the cycle and then everything else can happen at UCSF and Marin Health. Sorry, I'll miss your visit, BoM.

Why can't we do the "first day only" thing for Cycle 2 like we'll be able to do in Cycle 3? The short answer is:

1. The trial kinda mandates that the patient be on site for first 7 days of Cycle 2 for some specific tests and just in case anything goes sideways. Remember that was the original plan... Cycle 1 straight into Cycle 2 with the first 7-10 days of Cycle 2 down here.
2. Getting the support set up in the Bay Area for everything I need is a very complicated process; it would have been a very heavy lift to get that all figured out in the next couple weeks.
3. I should be feeling much better during Cycle 3 and may not need as many transfusions as I do now.

It's also worth mentioning that while Friday's bone marrow biopsy was incredibly painful -- my back is still sore! -- the doc who performed it was amazing! She even played the Dead for me during the procedure. Thanks, Dr. G.

Oh, I was able to do a 4.7 mile walk on Sunday. Tiring but wonderful.  There's some info about the walk, Orion's recent complete game stats, and some pics in that link.

A ton of other stuff has happened since my last post, but not gonna get into it right now.  Just wanted to get this out for all to see. Also, I gotta meet with my boss in 10 mins and I want to rest my eyes for a little. While we're on the work topic, this Friday morning I'll get to meet with my PROCOR team for our April VPMOM review. Thanks for accommodating my schedule, gang.

Oh, and Mike and George, Knuck the Ficks.

iwkiaaaa