some test results

Dr. Verstovsek and the rest of the leukemia team made rounds this morning and told us some of the test results.

His bone marrow has come back with blasts in it, which means there is cancer in his bone marrow.

The fluid from his spine came back suspicious and they are going to treat that as being positive for cancer until another test shows otherwise.  

Chris will have another lumbar puncture with more chemo on Monday.  They will take more spinal fluid to test it again for better results.  He will have another lumbar puncture on Thursday with chemo.  He will have lumbar punctures every Monday and Thursday with chemo until the test comes back showing the cancer is gone.  

They won't know the results of the throat lymph node biopsy until next week.  Dr. Verstovsek said by Monday they should have a chemo treatment in place to start.  They have two different courses they are thinking of.  

I of course have questions about prognosis but until tests results come back, and he starts the chemo treatment, and they can test again and find out how the cancer is responding - they will not have an answer about prognosis.  

He will be in the hospital at least another week.  

On a much needed positive note Chris is feeling much better today.  His balance and strength is much better and he doesn't need assistance every time he gets out of bed.  He even walked down the hallway with me to the family waiting room!  He is talking a lot more too.  Since half his mouth is still numb he can be a bit hard to understand at times.  Having him more mobile and able to communicate more makes me feel so much better too.  Obviously he was not happy with the news we have been getting this week. 

I really can't imagine how hard this has been for him the last week.  He's been in a new hospital with new staff and had painful procedures and given bad news about his cancer.  But he's doing better today and that's what I'm focusing on.  Just baby steps every day.  

I am going to start sleeping at the hospital or at a friend of a friend's house here in Houston, at this point it's silly to be spending money on a hotel room.  The couch that pulls out into a twin sized bed width here in his room is quite comfortable and I'm allowed to shower in his bathroom.  There are guest laundry machines on one of the floors here.  

One of our friends in Austin is coming down to help keep Chris company for a few days.  I need the break and it will do Chris some good to see a familiar face besides mine. 

Magnus has come down with a bit of a cold the past few days and I think he gave it to Grandma too, I hope they both start feeling better soon.  

I don't know how much I'll be updating over the weekend since we won't be getting any new information.  Hopefully Chris will start feeling even better to help him get prepared for the tough road ahead.  With the high-dose chemo he'll be getting he will end up neutropenic again sometime soon.  

Here are his counts for today: