The Results

"The work which His goodness began, the arm of His strength will complete;
His promise is Yea and Amen, and never was forfeited yet.
Things future, nor things that are now, nor all things below or above,
Can make Him His purpose forgo, or sever my soul from His love."
- A Debtor to Mercy Alone
Augustus Toplady

My biopsy resuilts came back clear today, allowing us to proceed with a second transplant! We are so greatful to God for what is nothing less than a miracle. The next step is insurance approval, and then they will begin testing Elizabeth (Lizzie) to make sure she can be my donor. (They do heart tests, chest x-ray, and lots of bloodwork.) She will also need to begin a four day round of Neupogen shots to stimulate her marrow to kick stem cells into the bood, where they can be obtained peripherally. I will remain in the hospital for now as my counts are still pretty much at zero. At sound point I will begin an 8 day regimen of chemo prior to the stem cell infusion.

In the meantime I'm still continuing with fevers off and on, and I feel like I have the flu as my marrow works double-time to produce new cells. Everything hurts and I have a Dilautid pain pump to use which helps, but usually just takes the edge off of things and leaves me in a state of semi-sleep all the time. I haven't had to deal wih daily pain like this at all throughout my illness, though I know other AML patients struggle with it, and I am finding it to be a new challenge.

Thanks, as always, for your prayers!