Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Anticipation, oh maddening you are

Just realized I should have started an office pool to wager on what day my engraftment will occur. Three days of neupogen injections, and my cell count is 0.1. That's virtually nil. It must be 1.0 before I can re-enter the world. I'm getting a bit anxious.

I asked Dr. Burt how stem cell engraftment happens. How do my stem cells know to return to my bone marrow?  He looked bemused and said this: "Two explanations are correct -- millions of years of evolution, and a miracle of God. It will happen." He winked and went off to his next patient. No wonder everyone around here loves Dr. Burt.

The following is a post from a former Dr. Burt patient who is now living an epic disease-free life. I'm not sure what he does. In his Facebook photo, it looks like he's saving sea turtles. I like this.

Keith Ludwig Engraftment is like a bag of popcorn in the microwave. It's not a matter of IF it will pop, it's just a matter of WHEN. One of these days, they will write 0.1 on your white board. Next blood test will show something like 0.9. Before you know it, they will be telling you. "you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here". Enjoy the pampering of the staff while you can.

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