Post #33

Two weeks to go to hit 3 months of treatment

Yesterday was a good day. Bill was feeling good and had lots of energy.

Bill went to the infusion center for his Campath injection. His blood work shows that the Neupogen did its job. His WBC is now up to 7.6, which is in the normal range. His Neutrophil is 7.1, which is at the high end of normal. The great blood results does not change how Bill goes through his day because we have learned that the Neutrophil count can change quickly. It is not worth the risk to change his eating habits (Neutropenic diet) only to find out the next week that the levels have dropped. At the end of the month, which is only two weeks away, Bill will hit the three month mark. We were always told that he would have Campath for three months. We did confirm that if the biopsy results come back with Bill in remission, he would still need to get the injections until he receives the transplant.

After the injection we had an appointment with Dr. Castro. The Dr. thought we would have preliminary results from the bone marrow biopsy on Monday. That did not happen, however he did say he should have them Wednesday and via phone he would let us know the results. The preliminary results will show if there are any signs of the disease. The final results which will take a few weeks will check the T-cell arrangement and show if Bill is in molecular remission.

Tomorrow is the PET/CT scan at the hospital where I work. The purpose of the exam is to measure the spleen to determine if the size is back to normal. These are things that need to to be checked before the transplant.

On Sunday Bill and I downloaded Skype and had our first video conference with his son William (Billy). The installation process was very easy and we were up and running within a few minutes. The program is very easy to use. We have installed it on my lap top so we can bring it with us where ever we are. It is so nice to know that we will be able to see our friends and family during the next 12 to 15 months via video, especially during the three months that we will be in Tampa, FL. In the next few weeks we would like to test Skyping with any of our friends and family that have a camera and microphone on their computer. Our Skype name is Michael.Sitowitz