I just got the phone call from my chemotherapy case manager.  My marrow shows no signs of leukemia.  I am now in remission!!!  Karen was out in the shop on the exercise bike when the call came in.  Kev was in the family room with me.  He went out and tried to get Karen to come in without telling her.  I went out there immediately after getting off the call and was crying.  She thought something was wrong until I told her it was good news.  I told her I was in remission and we just hugged and hugged and cried and cried.  It was great news after having a rough day.

I had been not feeling great today.  I didn’t sleep well and I’ve had this pain in my back and side for a couple of days.  It started worrying me so I called the advice nurse.  This was on our way home from my bi-weekly blood work.  We got home, still hadn’t heard back from the nurse, and Nancy called with my blood work results. They were good, all in the normal range.  My ATRA hadn’t been refilled so she said she would call back with some news on that after talking to my oncologist. Meanwhile I told her what was up with me calling the advice nurse and she transferred me to the oncology advice nurse who told me to ice my back and side and I could talk to Dr. Bigler about it at the appointment on Friday (this appointment has been set up for a couple of weeks), unless my back gets worse.    Then I waited for Nancy to call back about the ATRA.  She did, but she also called about the REMISSION!!!  The ATRA was a side note.  I will stop taking it after I run out, which will be Thursday morning.  I will be on it again, but it will be on shorter cycles, connected with the consolidation rounds.

Consolidation rounds…. I meet with my oncologist, Dr. Bigler, on Friday to talk about them.  The consolidation rounds are like, as Karen’s brother Don put it, mopping the floor.  I have to do three more rounds of chemotherapy.  Not as strong as the first, but three more rounds none the less.  The first of these rounds will be, we think, in the next week or two.  I will go back into the hospital and get about half the dose of chemo I got before, only this time I get it for four days in a row.  One push every day.  They say it isn’t as hard on you as the first round.  I’m counting on that. These rounds are basically to make sure there wasn’t one little cell in there hanging out.  There was none in the biopsy, which means I am in remission.  These rounds, the consolidation rounds, are to make sure I stay there.  When they are done, and I don’t know if I will have to have another biopsy, but the deal is… when I am done with these rounds I will be cured.  Yes folks, cured.  And I think I will leave it at that… except for to say…  REMISSION!!