Update at doctor's

I have had a quiet week playing with my toys at home while waiting for my counts to drop post-chemo. On my doctor's visit on Wednesday, my counts were still good. My appetite has been up and fever down all week. I've been going to sleep each night between 12.30am and 2am, as I like to play until everyone else is exhausted, at which point I finally let them get some rest! Today, my counts finally dropped to neutropenic levels (0.17), and I needed a platelet transfusion (from one of my wonderful donors).

If I can get through the weekend without a fever, I will next visit the hospital on Monday to check my counts again. I guess I won't be taken out to see the F-16s flying this weekend. Aaron, you said you've never seen an F-16 - well my Uncle Alvin has a really cool job. He is an aeronautical engineer and he works on the F-16 fighter jets. I wonder if he will take us onboard one of those sometime?!

Today, I got my first results back from the bone marrow tests done after my second chemo. The test showed no sign of any leukaemia in my bone marrow. However, this test is not very exacting. As my doctor puts it, this test is only useful in identifying bad news. Well, fortunately it didn't - so I guess that is good news! In the meantime, I will wait to get results from the other more exacting tests which can identify even small numbers of leukaemia cells. When I have no detectable leukaemia left in my body, I will be "ready" for the cord-blood transplant.