I'm Back

[Guest guest]

Hello All,

It's been a long long time since I have responded to any post on any

of the sites. I have tried to keep up with the reading and sometimes

I even get so far behind on that that I just have to delete the box

full and start fresh. I want to say congrats to all of those that

have pasted an anniversary of any sort. I know that milestones help

and each one achieved is a great accomplishment in it's self. I

would also like to thank all of you for the warm and nice birthday

wishes in late August. That was another milestone in my life and one

that I was glad to reach. It's funny how the term " growing old " has

a new significance after a CML diagnosis.

I will try to catch you all up at this point with what has been

happening with me and my condition since I was released from the

hospital this summer. As some of you know I was admitted with Viral

Minigatus and developed pneumonia while I was in there. I was

medicated and sedated until I was released some days later. The only

bad effect to come from the ordeal was I had to drop from Summer Term

at school.

About three weeks after being released from the hospital, the family

and I took a trip to a near by amusement park. To make a long story

just a little shorter, I ended up with sun poisoning on my feet and

legs. It was terrible and besides from the pain, I actually enjoyed

the excuse to lay around for several days while I healed. Shortly

after that I went to the local ONC and he drew blood for a cbc.

WBC=12.6 which was high. The onc didn't worry to much about it but

he did say due to the high count and the fact that I am still PCR

positive I was bumped up to 600mg of Gleevic daily.

In the meantime I went to the fine folks at University of Alabama at

Birmingham to visit the transplant docs there and discuss the

possibilities and options. I am still a firm believer in the gold

pill as long as it works but I also am a strong believer in lining

things up in case something bad goes wrong. The doc at UAB said his

job was to help me make an informed decision after the test results

come back. My wife and I both left the facility feeling good about

the options no matter what they might be.

So as of now, I am back in school with a 17 hour load of classes,

maintaining my micro farm ( we are now up to 25 chickens and roosters

and 6 rabbits), seeing my local ONC monthly and waiting on results

and information from UAB for further appointment information.

Life is great and I thank the Lord for giving me another day each

morning when I wake up. I am active, with the help of pain meds,

and I will be starting a very moderate physical program in the near

future. My last CBC confirmed that my whites did drop to 10.0 but my

Monocytes are real high at 24.6. the doc said that was just the

additional gleevic working it's miracle.

Hope this finds you all well or at least happy in this world.

Smile,

Herring