The Roger Report

Mighty strange weather we're having.  We've got studded snow tires on the car so that we're ready to hit the road in the worst weather.  And all we get is rain.  It's been pouring for days on end in fact.  This is very strange for December.  Today we're tucked in, watching old movies and waiting for the word that it's time to hit the old Missoula-to-Salt Lake Trail.

Roger's blood count yesterday was high enough that he didn't need an infusion.  But today he is pale and cold, and his energy is very low.  This probably indicates he'll need red blood cells by tomorrow.  We're old hands at this, but with leukemia, things can turn on a dime, so we are calm, but watchful.

And now for the news:  Roger had a bone marrow biopsy on Friday.  The chemo seems to have worked very well, although there are some leukemia cells still present, so he will probably go through another round of chemo (5 days) and then have another 1-2 weeks to recuperate and rebuild before we go to Salt Lake for a T-cell infusion.  This chemo is no picnic.

The transplant team in Salt Lake is already preparing for Roger's arrival.  Roger's brother Robert has been contacted and will be going to Salt Lake himself soon to donate cells again.  ("Thank you, Robert," is simply insufficient to express our gratitude.)   So, by our best guess, we'll be in Salt Lake for Christmas again, or maybe New Year's (?)  and this will be another series of once a month short trips rather than one long trip.  We can handle it.

Last year when Roger had the chemo/stem cell combo, it held for a year. We'd like it to hold leukemia at bay for longer, but we're willing to settle for a year at a time if that's what we have to do.

2012: it was a very good year.  We'd like another one like that, please.