You Have To Believe...

There's a lot of news coming from Taussig today. Firstly, I didn't get any blood products today because, while still not amazing, my numbers were up "considerably" that I was given a pass. Basically, that's like saying I was previously flunking out of the class and now I'm getting a D-minus. I'll take the D-minus. Needless to say, but we were excited by that news. 

Secondly, we got to see Dr. V today. Lou was feeling rather pessimistic about the results from my bone marrow biopsy last week. I will admit that I was a little nervous, too. I think the last three or four weeks of this recovery and the low numbers in my blood count put me in that frame of mind, which by all accounts, we should be happy I still have a mind. 

As it turned out, the bone marrow biopsy did come out good and we all collectively breathed a sigh of relief. Furthermore, with that being the case, we were able to discuss the "what's next" for this adventurer. "What's next", as it turns out, were more options than we had anticipated. 

The first option: put me back into the hospital for the same procedure that I had in early February. Well, not exactly the same procedure, but that procedure at half the dose of chemo I received the first time. That would account for a slightly shorter hospital stay and recovery time. 

The second option is that they put me on interim chemotherapy with the recently FDA-approved drug called Melfluphen. This would depend largely upon whether or not Cleveland Clinic could get this drug in their pharmacy within the timeline I would need it. Also, this new drug would be given intravenously once every three weeks alongside a daily oral chemo.

The last part of this is tied to either option one or option two, and that would be to go in for CAR-T therapy. We've mentioned it before, but here's a link to what it is on a clinical level. For those of you who just want the nuts and bolts version, it goes something like this: they harvest the patient's T-cells and send them to a lab where they spin them (right round, baby right round like a record, baby. Right round, round round**) and a few days later put the re-engineered T-cells back into me. Re-engineered cells? Yes, re-engineered cells! What happens is that they mess with the makeup of the T-cells so not only do they recognise other infections but that they also find any Myeloma cells that might be released into my system. If that doesn't seem like a piece of science fiction, I don't know what does. 

I'm still scheduled to get a port at month's end and that's still freaking me out--you know to have a permanent apparatus right there on one's chest. I'm still trying to wrap my head around a comfortable Star Wars-y equivalent to this so it doesn't seem so icky to me. 

If everything goes according to plan, I should be returning to work by mid-June. This is exciting for me because I miss my job and my interactions with everyone.

In closing, on paper, CAR-T should afford me many years of cancer-free health. I'll take what's on paper let things play out as they will. But honestly, let's hope that it does. And as for now, let's breathe a sigh of relief and have a little dance. 

Thanks for all the support because I wouldn't be here without you. 

Love, love, love to you all!

**thank you for indulging me.