Biopsy tomorrow

On Friday I'll be going in to the leukemia clinic to undergo another bone marrow biopsy to determine whether I'm in remission or not. I'll get some blood work done and that will be it until they figure out my next course of treatment. If all goes well with the biopsy and it shows I'm remission, I will most likely start another round of chemotherapy some time next week. It won't be until after Thursday since I'm having a new Hickman line put in that day (the line in my chest that allows direct access to my blood stream without having to jam a needle in my arm). If the biopsy shows that the cancer is still in my marrow I will most likely need a transplant from an unrelated donor. That poses a whole new set of problems with what is called Graft versus Host Disease. This set of complications arises because the donor blood has T-cells which can attack my cells, organs and tissue. Some people have no signs of GVHD, some people have mild symptoms and others have severe problems. Let's all hope we don't even have to go down that road.
I've been feeling great and I'm really enjoying being back at home where I get lots of hugs and kisses from Audrey and drool from Noah. The rest of my treatment should be on an outpatient basis which is good and bad. While it will be nice to sleep in my own bed and see Leslie and the kids every day, chemo may be tougher at home without a handy call button linked to a nurse who can administer all kinds of fun drugs! Hopefully they'll send me home with a few different anti-nausea drugs to help out. We should have more answers by the end of the weekend at which time we will be sure to update everyone.
My brother, Chris, flew home on Wednesday and my father, David, is now here to help out and to bond with his grandkids too. Chris and I managed to get out and play a round of golf on Monday which was so amazing. It was nice to be outside playing my game and not really thinking about this stupid disease. I even played well, and soundly thumped Chris by 11 shots! Sorry Chris, if you're reading this. For now I'm going to enjoy the bit of freedom I have before the next round of treatment begins. Keep your e-mails and comments coming as they are always so much fun to read. Thanks to everyone who has donated. We can't put into words how appreciative we are for the help it lends us. Stay tuned, more to come soon.

-Mark