Today is Day 185.

I drove to Nashvegas last week for my 6 Month check-up. It was colder than Hell up there. 20 degrees and snow the morning I left.

The first morning there they hooked up my Portacath and drew 20 vials of blood. Went back to the hotel to decompress and then drove to Martin's BBQ Joint and had a Big bowl of their new Brisket chili. It is so, so, Very Good !!!

The next morning it was the obligatory Bone Marrow Biopsy (BMB), my 18th !! Vandy wanted to get a big deep-dive sample so my Nurse Practitioners (NPs) Donna and Amanda got to it. My new "Long Term Care NP", Rachel was there to witness. Again, my NP Donna took charge and asked if I was "ready"; "Yes, I've told you before that I long for your tender touch, , , ,". Lots of laughter in the room. She got very good cores, and the tech from Vandy and Rachel were very impressed with her work. Donna showed me the cores. Then I had a very good talk with Rachel and my lead doctor, Dr. S.

Rachel told me that all of my blood numbers were Very Good !! They are still "low" BUT, they are all now within the "normal range" for "normal" people !!! Fooking Yay !!! Dr. S again told me that I am doing Excellent and that at this point it looks like I have nothing to worry about. The results of the BMB will predicate the "Path Forward" of my treatment. Dr. S told me that he was very confident that I was going to be OK because the VA/Vanderbilt Stem Cell Transplant group "is the best". I asked him what he meant (because it seems pretty over-the-top when a doctor says such a thing). "We know we are the best because we are. Our success rates are The Best in the nation !!! Fooking A Bubba !!! I like to hear that from my doctors.

I will still get the "low dose" chemo of Vidaza for 3 days a month, for the next 6 months (starting next week). I again asked Dr. S if this was because of anything to do with "me" ??? "No, this is just how we roll at Vandy. Our research shows us that this is the best course of action to insure that there are no relapses of MDS." He went on to explain to me about the presentation he just gave to the Stem Cell Transplant group at Vandy. I consider him to be one of the very best, Anywhere!! I go back to Nashvegas in July for my One Year.

-------------------------
Dora Hates You

Edited: 03/02/2023 at 03:22 PM by dingpatch