2 Year Bone Marrow Results

We just had our official 2 year checkup a couple of weeks ago and the results are already in!  We are certainly becoming pros at the MD Anderson/bone marrow thing!  We were sitting there in the office waiting and I was looking around and you can pick the new people out in a heartbeat.... so scared, so confused, not sure what is going on or what to expect.  Those are the people who always ask you what kind of blood cancer your husband has and want to talk about it.  The long timers are cool with reading the paper, LOL.  :)  I always love to talk to the new folks and try to give them a reassuring word.  Learning the ropes at MDA definitely takes a while!

When Dr. Quintas came in to see us he immediately asked, "So, why are you here today??!  I look at your numbers and they look great and I'm thinking why is this man here to see me?"  He cracks me up.  You just have to hear him with his spanish accent.  Adorable.  Anyways, he had a bone marrow aspiration and got some PCR results.  Remember last time when the results were "less than .01%"?  Well this time they just left off the less than part.  So his 2 year PCR is .01%.  We would have liked to have seen a repeat of the "less than", but, well, its beyond my control so what can we even say about that?!  I asked Josh what he thought about it and his response was, "Honestly, I do my best not to think about it at all."  And then he winked at me.  :)  He has a thousand opinions about everything in the world but none about this, evidently!  I'll be anxious to see Dr. Quintas in a few months and get his opinion on this bumpy ride at the bottom of the PCR results.

• April 2011     91.43 %
• July 2011         5.19 %
• October 2011     .09 %
• January 2012      .08% 
• April 2012          .02% 
• November 2012  less than .01%
• May 2013            .01%

So shockingly he doesn't have to go back for another BMA for an entire year!!  Isn't that exciting?  Since he can't drink alcohol anymore I think he's kinda gonna miss that post-Propofol drunk feeling!  But he definitely won't miss being sore.  I was a bit nervous about not having a PCR result for a whole year but they told us they will now be using his blood to test PCR levels.  Why on earth they haven't done that all along I don't know.  I have read so many blogs/message boards where folks have talked about getting PCR results from blood and I was a bit frustrated Josh couldn't do that.  I understand that the number of bone marrows was dictated by the drug trial protocol, but still wanted to get more PCR results.  I'm just nosy like that!  Now we don't go back till August and then get to meet with Dr. Quintas in November. 

Thanks so much for keeping up with us, friends!  It really means a lot to get those emails/calls/texts checking on Joshua and seeing how we are doing.  We love you guys!

Two year cancerversary!!

Did everybody wish Josh a happy cancerversary today?  I seriously forgot until I saw something on FB about April Fools!  I just looked back at our 1 year cancerversary post and realize that we still feel the exact same way.... every single little detail about that day is still etched into our brains!  I guess its just not something that you forget. 

We haven't had much to post cause we haven't been back to MD Anderson since November.  We were maybe supposed to have an appointment a couple of months ago, but we did not make it.  They scheduled it on a Saturday (it was just bloodwork) which was really weird, since he has never had one on the weekend before.  We didn't go to it and nobody called or wrote, so I guess it was maybe a mistake on our schedule.  This is officially the longest we have been without having his levels checked.  I would say that is kind of scary, but we feel oddly OK with it.  I think we have kind of accepted that he is going to feel super crappy off an on and its OK.  It doesn't have to mean something awful, it is just part of the journey. 

So here are the big PCR results we haven't shared with anybody.  We've been sitting on them for 3 months now.  :)

• April 2011     91.43 %
• July 2011         5.19 %
• October 2011     .09 %
• January 2012      .08% 
• April 2012          .02% 
• November 2012  less than .01%

YES, they used the words "less than .01%".  Isn't that great?!  He will go in for his 2 year checkup in May where he will have another bone marrow test, bloodwork, and get to meet with Dr. Quintas.   I am looking forward to it, although the scary part is that from here the numbers either go up or stay the same basically.  I have seen for many people that their PCR bounces around a bit at the bottom of the scale.  I can imagine that is a little bit difficult to mentally deal with, so I'm praying his results stay the same!

Those of you who still take the time to purchase all of your Amazon stuff through our link, it is so much appreciated!!  The return rate for us is actually quite large... it adds up very quickly.  I say that cause I am a person who thinks $20 is a lot!  :)  We are able to take whatever we get from Amazon and pay that much more towards our growing MD Anderson bills.  So thank you friends!!