Happy Spring!

We've had a couple of good and busy weeks here. Last week I was feeling a little more tired than usual for some reason and had lots of skin sensitivity. This week, some of my daily little symptoms I have haven't been as bad and my energy has been back. Which is nice. My hair is even starting to REALLY grow! :)

DHMH visits continue to be good with lab work staying consistant, my most recent bone marrow looking good (80-90% - about the same as before, even a bit better - cells looking very healthy).

I've been seeing lots of friends again which is such a treat. Now that Troy is back to work, my friend Beth took me to DHMH recently, which was a beautiful day of non stop chit chat and giggles. She even watched my bone marrow. You've got Troy beat there. My mom has come a few times. My brother and dad, my friend Jen as well, are all in line for filling in on those drives. And I know there are a ton of offers out there. I love having visits from Robinson this month, as well as delicious meals. Thank you! I finally caught up with Nancie and Amy after MANY attempts. I also just spent a day with my very dear college roomie, Kim, who now live in Waterbury. Griff and I get our baby fix in every couple of days on our walks as we say a quick "hi" to baby Cordelia, new daughter to Dan and Nicki Bergstrom Noel. OK sometimes we're not so quick, it's been great having Dan and Nicki around. The Oxfords and Paradees have been having healthy kids, which means family play time together and some fun Sunday meals. I'm walking all about Bristol and able to see so many members of the community. Even have done a few pick ups of Griff at preschool and the boys at BES. Getting there ..... feeling more "normal" as time goes on. But, as any of you around me see, still limited (no crowded areas, busy restaraunts, known sickness around) and ALWAYS in my mask if I'm out of the house but indoors, except a friends house.

Next up ..... another bone marrow biopsy and a PET scan in a couple of weeks (TBD). The hope is the bone marrow continues to show this % of enfraftment (not decreasing). Then we'll start to taper off my immune suppressing drugs I'm on and let those donor cells settle in more on their own. We DON'T expect to be disease free at this PET scan. This was something Meehan explained to us weeks ago. It takes time. Knowing this upfront is actually for the first time a little comforting and lifts a whole lot of anxiety away. I quite possibly have some bit of GVHD going on with mild skin rash, dry eyes, and a few other things, as well and subclinical stuff. It's always hard to know for sure if it's Rx side effects or GVHD. Just time and watching it lets us know. If it is GVHD, that's great because it's mild and could indicate that it's also doing some GVT (graft vs tumor, or lymphoma in my case). That's the hope. Only time and faith will tell.

Be well all .... think spring, smile with the sunshine, appreciate the rain and mud. ALL have a purpose .... and how lucky we are to live it and experience it each and every day!

Love to all - Pam

p.s. I probably won't post again for a few weeks when we have more information and plans from our next round of tests.