January 2, 2007

I hope you all have had a great holiday season. Christmas is a wonderful time to remember God’s gift and celebrate life with those who are closest to us. Since my Nadir (time of lowest blood counts after chemotherapy) was going to happen on December 25th, Barbara and I celebrated our Christmas a week earlier than most of you. We had a great time with family on December 16th and celebrated by ourselves on the 25th.

This is my first CML update of the new year. My chemotherapy from December 11-16 went better than expected. Side effects were minimal. My blood counts have been rising slowly since my Nadir. I only had 3 transfusions of platelets and no red blood transfusions before my counts were high enough to stop the need for transfusions. That was much better than the first chemotherapy.

Barbara and I are still under the assumption that I will be admitted for preparation for a stem cell transplant from donor #2 on January 15th and will have the transplant on January 22nd. The last time my OHSU doctor and I spoke about tentative dates was mid December. That is why I said “assumption” earlier. Barbara and I are preparing for January 15th, but are leery because of donor #1 becoming ineligible at the last moment. God has been in control of this process and if I am to have a transplant, it will happen in God’s timing. Barbara and I are both trusting that God is in control and that His timing and outcome are always the best.

On one hand I am truly thankful that I am still alive since I am one of the first people who have been in blast crisis to have the CML go into remission and not have any evidence of blast cells in my marrow. That is a miracle compared to the previous outcome which was imminent death. On the other hand it has been 226 days since this process started last May and I am no closer to getting rid of the CML than when we started. Barbara and I both have been anticipating going through the transplant process and it seems like such a long time to get to that point. Waiting has been hard and we are ready to get on to the 100 days of recovery that a transplant requires. As soon as I hear more about transplant timing I’ll let you know.

Although I want to get started on the transplant, I am also apprehensive to proceed. My greatest concern is graft versus host disease (GVHD) which is a byproduct of a transplant. There is no way for doctors to determine how severe GVHD will be between any donor and recipient. GVHD is something that only God is able to control. Although God has been incredible so far in the way He has protected me, I am nervous about what God is going to do regarding GVHD in my transplant.

As always, I covet your prayers. They are a great source of strength and comfort for Barbara and me.