Day 20 Admission Day 15 Chemo

Dear friends and family,

Bob had another good day. Looked like he had more vim and vigor than over the weekend. When I arrived at Noon, the hem/onc fellow, Dr. Ara(first name, can't remember his surname cuz we just call him Ara), was just about to start the bone marrow biopsy. Deb, I'm sorry to tell you, but Bob said this one was comparable to having Dr. Luger do it. He didn't even flinch. I especially didn't flinch, b/c Ara said the only way I could stay was if I didn't pass out on the floor. I bit my tongue, and refrained from telling him that I was watching sternal bone marrows being done way back in the 70's, when his mother was wiping his snotty nose. Wasn't that tactful of me? Of course Bob had to tell him that it was a snap and a piece of cake, so he really had a big head by the time he walked out the door. Actually, I really like this dr. He's very particular and knows his stuff, and Bob thinks the world of him, plus anyone who can drill that huge needle into your pelvic bone w/o hurting you, has to be A-OK. So, we won't have any results until Thursday am. What Ara did tell us today that we didn't know before is, that Bobs' cytogenetics on the last BM bx were normal. Now, there are good and bad abnormal cytogenetics, meaning the bad don't respond to treatment, and the good ones do. When they are normal, it simply means that they have one less prognostic factor, or one less clue as to how the AML will respond to the chemotherapy. It seems that this is not unusual b/c of the underlying MDS. The MDS is also the reason that we have not been told what Bobs' subset of AML is. Normally there are 8 subsets of AML...M1 - M8, but when there is a history of MDS it clouds the picture, so again that's one less clue for a prognosis. Basically what all this medical mumbo-jumbo means, is that we have to wait after each round of chemo to see what the bone marrow shows(which we would have to do anyway). Bob also told me today that Dr, Perle said even if there are no leukemia cells(blasts) in the BM, and there is still MDS he will still need a 2nd induction. They also will not wait for his counts to recover if he needs it. So Bob may possibly be starting his 2nd round as soon as Thursday or Friday. Sigh...no rest for the weary.

Alright, as torturous as it was to read and process all that info.....you should have to try and type it w/ four fingers(cuz that's all I use).!!!!

Onto the lighter side...Bob wants to respond to some of the blogs.

To km, Tell BC that he's not surprised you couldn't blog the jokes, and Bob wants to hear them all in person, over hoagies at your shop when this is all done.

To MDF, Bob says" good for you for mocking Mo, I love it." (Mo says, see how honest I am that I didn't omit that nasty comment?)

To all the Tri-Valley gang..."Good luck with the upcoming big move. You all must be very busy and under a lot of pressure. Please make sure and save my photo of Rhane and the "cat-dog" picture she drew. (Now you're under more pressure.)

To BKH(aka "Stonehead") who sent a "sappy" card today, Bob says get with it and get on the blog like your father "the old guy", and your brother. Of course BKHs' father and brother are going to have to pass this message along since she is not reading the blog!!

And lastly to everyone out there, Bob sends a great, big thank you. All the cards, calls, blogs and gifts mean so much. We singled a few out in the name of fun today, but I read them all and your support is keeping me going. I'm hanging in there and trying to kick some butt. As Gerry C. put it so well....Vincero!

I guess you all can read for yourselves that Bob was in pretty good spirits today. Nothing much left to write, except my usual request to please keep the prayers and good thoughts coming.

All our love,
Bob and Mo