I've got a lot of catching up to do!
On Thursday night's post I forgot to mention that my wife got to go to lunch Thursday with an old friend who was in town from Florida. Thanks Bry!
Friday morning I had a bone marrow aspiration and bone biopsy appointment that went as well as can be expected. Other than that, we had a three-day weekend. So Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we did the home infusion procedure. I think we've got it down now.
Yesterday (Monday) we got a very good bit of news from Dr. Hosing, my transplant doctor. She handed us a test result that reads: "The post-transplant microsatellite polymorphism pattern is identical to the donor pattern . . . which is compatible with successful engraftment. No chimerism is observed. Microsatellite polymorphism analysis reveals that 100% of T-cells are of donor origin. Microsatellite polymorphism analysis reveals that 100% of myeloid cells are of donor origin." This is based on a gene scan they performed. Basically what it means (as we understand it) is that the stem cells given to me by my donor have fully engrafted in me and have completely taken over from my immune system. The word chimerism is derived from the mythical beast the chimera, a creature composed of parts of more than one animal. If chimerism HAD been observed in me, it would mean that some of my immune system would still be active in me. So "no chimerism is observed" is a good thing. I gather that a little chimerism is okay and that in most transplant cases it goes away, but to have achieved 100% engraftment at this stage is very good. As we understand it, the next big hurdle will be determining whether my new immune system is fighting my MF. (Just because I have a brand new immune system, it doesn't necessarily follow that it will do any better at fighting my illness than the old one did. Usually it does, but only time will tell.) I have a few new MF spots on me and a few resurgent old spots. The doctors (Hosing and Duvic) say that that's not unusual at this stage, and that it's still too early to expect the new system to be fighting the MF. But it's still pretty unnerving for us to see the MF coming back even a little after we've seen it slowly retreating these last months. Duvic's last words to us yesterday were "not to worry," so we're going with that as best we can.
We're off today (Tuesday) and will be back to the clinic tomorrow.