Dr. Concerned | cherish each moment, even the ones that suck.

Today my bone marrow biopsy came in looking “beautiful,” as Dr. Concerned put it–they could not see any cancer cells in it! (They are still doing the genetic tests, but it’s unlikely they will turn up anything bad, since the tests they did already are good). Yay yay yay! I should have know the biopsy was good the minute I saw Dr. Concerned, because she was smiling (beaming, almost) rather than looking concerned. My awesome dad came into town to go to the appointment with me. Thanks, Dad!

I’m definitely not out of the woods yet, as my cancer could recur–myelodysplastic syndrome does this too often, especially in the first couple years after transplant. I’ll be getting regular bone marrow biopsies for follow-up–hopefully from Nurse Practitioner Brusque Yet Friendly, whose skills are excellent at holding down the extreme-pain-time to just the first pull of marrow. Although Dr. Virginia did a particularly good job the last time he took one, too–when he was putting the needle into my hipbone I thought he was still just putting in the lidocaine. Until the first pull. But hey, bone marrow biopsies only last a few seconds, and have the positive effect of enabling me to feel all hardy and survivor-y.

mmmm…Union Market.

Anyway, the point is, so far, so good! I’m really grateful to God and to everyone who’s been praying and offering emotional support. Now I just concentrate on recovering my energy, avoiding sunburn, and being careful as my immune system recovers.

And on food. After the appointment Dad took me to Union Market to stock up on some flavor. (Yes, I know gentrification is complex and often problematic, but I want a $30 bottle of balsamic vinegar, darn it!) Unfortunately, the pate de campagne has to wait another four months at least, as I’m too immunocompromised to eat deli items. And Dr. Concerned vetoed soft cheeses for now. But we had some Takorean (yes, bulgogi in tacos…it’s really good. For real, try it if you get the chance.) We also got me some groceries, including some “heartichino” sausage from Red Apron Butchery, which I later cooked until it would have made Nathan Anda’s heart very very sad, but my oncologist’s reasonably peaceful, to see it–and it still tasted a-MAZ-ing. Thanks, nose-to-tail foodie charcuterie trend!

Happy weekend, everyone!

Pearson Scott Foresman/Wikimedia/public domain (altered)

Yesterday I got some great news: I am a bona fide chimera! Fortunately this means not that I’m a goat with the head of a lion or some such, but rather that I’m a mixture of original me-flavor cells (everywhere but the blood and marrow) with new-and-improved donor-flavor blood. This was exactly the goal of the transplant. The test (for which they’d taken blood a week earlier) showed I’m 100% donor in my peripheral blood (i.e., blood in general) and 94% donor in my T cells.

I briefly emailed Dr. Concerned and Dr. Virginia the news, and they said it was “fantastic” and “great” respectively. I’m especially psyched about Dr. Concerned’s response, as she’s the big fancy transplant expert.

Of course, this is just one step along the journey–it’s certain that a few of my original marrow cells, including some of the cancer, is in there someplace (especially as I just got a “mini” transplant; after the chemo I got in 2006, my body couldn’t handle the full myeloablative fry-the-heck-out-of-your-old-marrow treatment). So the goal is for my new immune system, now that it’s up and running, to go after the malignant cells.

In other news, I have a mild rash which is moving around random parts of my body (leaving some places as it shows up in others). It’s annoying and itchy, but it’s likely a very mild case of graft vs host syndrome, which it turns out is actually a positive thing–it shows that the donor cells are feisty in there. In 25 days (at day 60 after transplant) the doctors will take a bone marrow biopsy to see whether the new marrow is doing the right thing and wiping out the residual cancer cells. They will also discharge me back to DC on day 60 (although the biopsy test results will, if past experience is any indication, not come back for all eternity in subjective time, and maybe a week or so in objective time).

Oh, and today I got to stop taking one of the most annoying drugs (the one where I had to get up at 6 am and also to not eat for several three-hour swaths of my day, and it irritated my stomach). So, I’m grateful for that also. Yay!

cherish each moment, even the ones that suck.

thoughts about surviving cancer. also, other things.

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Moment for Celebration!

Mhaaaaa-ROWR! I’m a Chimera