Hey Everyone,
It’s been awhile since I’ve written a blog, and from Eric’s last post, we have some updating to do.
I know in Eric’s last post he mentioned that he had passed two Lumbar Punctures, with the results showing no signs of leukemia, which to us was awesome news. We haven’t really said too much else about that other than we needed to pass one more to be considered in remission. The reason we’ve pretty much kept our mouths shut is because we got to that point one time, got our hopes up, and then found out that they found some more in his Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF). Well, I’m very happy to report that his third LP came back clean, and there was absolutely no trace of leukemia in his brain!! So, since we’ve been told since the beginning, “Three and your brain is in remission.” We have hit three, and now we wait for his doctor to give us the next steps, which at one point sounded like one more dose of chemo, so that we can make sure it stays away. But we haven’t really heard for sure what the next steps are. We’re just assuming the consolidation chemo is the next step.
Also, in the last blog Eric wrote, he had said that the leukemia in his bones was down to 2.5%, which is true. That day that is what we were told. We were also told that everyone on this planet has some form of leukemic blasts in their system. If you would take a sample of anyone who is reading this, their results would also show some blasts. At that point in time, we thought that it couldn’t get much better than that news. I was ecstatic. Especially knowing this chemotherapy that he had had, once didn’t do anything and the leukemia grew back in a higher amount than it had before. Well, at Eric’s last appointment, his doctor told him the FINAL results of the bone marrow show that there is absolutely NO cancer in his bone marrow, and that he is 100% donor. I know you are all sitting there in shock right now with a lot of questions running through your head. I was at the time! I guess what the 2.5% blasts they found in the preliminaries were what everyone has. They weren’t leukemic blasts, they were just blasts. Something everyone would have in their system.
Eric has once again defied the odds, kicked some butt, and made it back into remission for the 6th and 7th time. Now the plan is to kick this nasty lung infection, and when that’s gone, go back to using the mylotarg. I don’t know if you guys remember the mylotarg but it was used once on Eric before, and kept him in remission for a good amount of time, but then the FDA took it off the market because it was causing problems for other people. Since it didn’t for Eric, his doctors wrote some letters, and Eric is able to still get his hands on it, even though it is banned.
We really couldn’t ask for anything better at this point. This last round of chemo was a risky one. That alone could have killed Eric. To have Eric here today, is something I am very thankful for. As Eric said in his last blog, he doesn’t know how long he has left on this planet. His doctor did in fact say that leukemia is most likely what will kill him. However, no one says that’s tomorrow, or in 60 years from now. We are going to continue to live our lives as normal as we possibly can, and take it day by day. We again thank everyone for their continued support. You all are amazing!
Cari