I guess the good news is that I haven't posted in a while. Since everything is reasonably stable, and I only go down to La Jolla once a month, there is not a lot to report. Today I went to La Jolla for my monthly IVIG infusion and had a doctor visit. The infusion was uneventful as usual, and took less than 4 hours. My visit with the doctor was also a good one, with all my numbers within normal ranges and my spleen and lymph glands about the same size as last time. So this means that I am still in Partial Response, and the Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia has not returned. A good way to end the year. End of short report.
A quick update on my Dad. As of the last report he was still in the hospital, but he came home the first week of December. Although he is on the road to recovery, there is still a lot of care giving going on. According to my Dad, 'there is a constant stream of people coming and going'. Most of the medical problems related to the surgery have cleared up, and now the issue is building up his strength physically and mentally. The good news is that is that he is doing so much better than two months ago, or even a month ago. Donna and are going up next Monday for a week and we will get to spend some time with him. My sister and Cherese and Lois have been on 'Dad watch' since September, and I am convinced that he wouldn't be where he is today without their love and support.
A bit more detail from my doctor's visit today. Although my white count is still around 9, my red count (hemoglobin) is around 15, and my platelets are up, this only tells part of the story. My bone marrow biopsy still shows leukemic cells, so we still know that the CLL is lurking around. The fact that my lymph glands and spleen are still slightly enlarged also point to some residual involvement. The good news is that I don't have any other physical signs like daily night sweats, fatigue, fevers or respiratory issues, where before treatment I did have some of those symptoms. I feel really good, compared to how I felt a year ago.
Dr. Kipps does feel that because I only got a partial response (PR) from the treatment over the summer, I will probably need additional treatment sometime in 2009. As to when that will be, he couldn't say. He said that hopefully this response will last a long time, and could even last through 2009. But because of the chance that I may need treatment he wants to start thinking about what that may be. He went through about 6 different treatment options, and ruled out 2 right away because of either the existing enlarged lymph glands or the autoimmune hemolytic anemia. All of the three remaining are not without risk, and I would have to be monitored closely to make sure that I didn't have any life threatening side effects. I might go into some additional information for you 'detail freaks' in a subsequent blog, but it gets quite technical quickly. The good news (if you can consider it that) about needing treatment is that we are PLANNING for it now rather than waiting until I am in dire straits. Dr. Kipps has always said that he will never let me get as bad as I was before, even if it means starting treatment a little early. The down side to all of this is that it makes planning things for this year a little risky, but you can't stop living life, and we already have things planned thru March, with more adventures possible in December.
Dr. Kipps was so pleased after the exam and the blood tests that he said that he would see me in TWO months. It has been a while since I have seen him every two months, so that is another good sign.
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and I hope that you all have a great New Year.
Terry
