Thursday Night
Mood:
not sure
Now Playing: From John
Topic: Update
Just got off the phone with Dr. Gaba, the oncologist... and it's not the news we'd hoped for. The results of Dad's bone marrow biopsy showed that the Leukemia is back. When Dad was first diagnosed, the immature cells (also known as "blasts") were at 60%, which is considered to be Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Acute is considered "blasts" over 20%. His high percentage was why they were so aggressive with his chemotherapy. Dr. Gaba said during his original diagnosis that he'd been in the Chronic stage (under 20% "blasts") for quite a while before anybody noticed the symptoms. Anyhow, when we got the results of his bone biopsy from two weeks ago we were elated that that "blasts" were at 0%. Anything under 5% is considered 'in remission.' The results today showed 10-12%.
So, he will have another biopsy in about 2 weeks - the hope is that the percentage does not climb and the Dr. Gaba can pronounce the Leukemia as Chronic. That's important because, in the Chronic Stage, we at least have some treatment options. Dad's adverse reaction to his first round of chemo (Induction Phase) limits his doctor's choices for treatment in the future.
If his "blasts" were under 5% in this last test, Dr. Gaba would have gone into what is called a Consolidation Phase of treatment, with a different chemo 'cocktail' in shorter batches over 2-3 months. If his health had improved over that time he most likely would have gone into a Maintenance Stage of treatment (lower doses spread even farther apart). Gaba said he would have been a candidate for a bone marrow transplant or stem cell transplant at some point if all went well...
However, given that he has over 10% blasts, now all we can do is hope and pray that the percentage does not rise. In a nutshell, Dr. Gaba said "if it does progress back to the Acute Stage, I'm afraid we will have no more treatment options, given his reaction to the chemotherapy..." Dr. Gaba did share this news with Dad (with brother Al and sister-in-law Becky present), he took the news OK, and after a brief time of solitary reflection he was back to his jovial self. Gaba did seem to think that it would be best for Dad to go to the Pelican Valley Nursing Home (versus staying in Fargo at a rehab center) once he is released from the hospital.
We don't know what the outcome will be in two weeks, but I do know that, according to his sister Verna, he has shown a new, brighter outlook the past few days with his breathing and speech exercises. Becky said he is upbeat, positive and looking forward to being released next Tuesday.
Lastly, when my brother Joel and I consulted with Dr. Gaba after Dad's 8-day stint in the Intensive Care Unit, Gaba did tell us that "it is a miracle, and I don't use that word often. What Wes went through, his condition, the septic infection, and everything... people don't recover from that." Your prayers worked everyone! So, please don't give up, Dad, and please keep praying everybody...