June 16 - Taking a step back.

I had an appointment at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance this past Monday, June 14. Some blood analyses showed there are still some bad cells floating around in my body. Right now we have a lot of questions if this is still in the bone marrow or where. I had a bone marrow biopsy that day also, but the results from that are still pending. I have been put on Velcade, a chemotherapy for a three week on, one week off treatment over the next two months. There may be some side affects that could lower my immune system again and make me more tired than I am. We will see. Right now I am feeling fine.

This has caught the hematologist off guard as he was thinking everything would have been handled during the bone marrow transplant. Apparently not everything was killed with the chemotherapy when I was in the hospital. At that time, they were giving me a reduced dose of the chemotherapy because of the weak condition of the new heart, just five months post transplant. The hematologist has a series of options to deal with this.

This setback in my health report comes at a time when we were just starting to venture out and be a little more sociable. As my immune system is now at the point where we could go out to eat at a restaurant. We went to one of our favorite seafood places in Seattle this weekend. When we walked in to be seated, we bumped into my sister and her husband. We had a very nice visit. It was great to feel like we can slide back into a normal life style again. A few days later, I visited my work place where my job is being held for me. It was great to see so many friends that were happy to see how I have recovered. I am still weak about walking (needed a hiking pole for stability) and I need to be smart about any interactions as my immune system has a bit to go to be strong. It is good to be healthy! If you have your health, protect it.

A friend of mine had just returned from a trip to Vietnam. She took some pictures of interesting signs that made for interesting translations into English. Above is one I found about a Kutu Shampoo “Kills All.” I think I will suggest it to my hematologist should I need to get more aggressive with the bad cells.