Remission Day

Saturday, February 15

Let's cut to the chase.  Happy news today that the Leukemia is in remission with < 1% blast cells remaining in the marrow.  They've started me on WBC booster shots and are preparing me to leave the hospital as soon as Wednesday!  HUGE RELIEF, HAPPY DAY!

To back up the story - I work up Saturday morning early as I was restless again for the test results.  Here's the problem, the test was taken very late on Friday night.  During the weekend, the labs go into emergency-mode only, so they're focused on ER and surgery cases.  When the PA from the Oncology group came in, she said it could take two business days to get the results back.  "Business Day" - totally meaningless term at this point, I thought.  I was starting to resign myself to not finding out until Monday.  The problem is that I know that the Oncologist wanted to start me on WBC booster ASAP if the test results were good, and he would want to start me right back on chemo if they were not good.  I started getting aggravated actually for the first time since I've been here.  Technically my WBC is at critical levels and future medical decisions were held up here.  I wasn't sure how much the lead Oncologist could push behind the scenes.

Once again, my brother-in-law came to the rescue.  He placed a call to a pathologist buddy of his, who placed a personal call into the lab and asked for some priority.  I literally offered to pay someone's overtime to come in and work for the day.  But that wasn't necessary, they got the work done and by mid-morning the preliminary results were in.  Can't thank Dr. Masters enough.

The family came in and the mood was obviously joyous.  We played some board games, went outside for lunch, took a walk, and returned to watch some UConn Basketball and Olympics.  One of the covering Oncologists visited and was the one who suggested that I could go home by Tuesday or Wednesday.  We didn't want to believe him right out, but he seemed pretty confident.

Joanne took the kids back to my sister's and I grabbed a quick nap. Another sister (the one who helps me with this blog) & brother-in-law flew in from Los Angeles and drove straight over to say hello, along with my mother.  I get to see them the least of my siblings so it was great to be face to face again.  She's promised to return with some home cooking for me for Sunday & Monday nights.

Joanne returned for the evening with another great meal and we enjoyed a celebratory dinner.  Such a huge weight off our shoulders.  We even began talking about the future for the first time in a while.  My wife also noticed my pillow on my bed.  It was now full of hair.  A small price to pay for me, but I can imagine the impact this would have on a child or woman.  Anyway, looks like the process is finally taking hold and I won't need that Brazilian Wax after all.