Had the Bone Marrow Aspirate this morning. It seemed to take a little longer than usual but went very well. It hurts a little at the time but five minutes later the pain has 99% gone. They take samples to go onto slides for microscopy and lots of sample tubes to look at the cytogenetics etc etc (the genetic make up of my bone marrow) which hopefully is back to normal. It was 'chaotic' when I was first diagnosed and chaos is not so good when it comes to bone marrow apparently!
They also look for MRD (Minimal Residual Disease) which is pretty important from my point of view. There are a host of other samples sent to another haematology centre for more analysis and research. These results will take a few weeks to come back.
I see Prof Russell on Thursday 3rd for a routine weekly visit and hopefully he'll have the microscopy result. All being well there will be no 'blast' cells and I am still in remission. The MRD result which comes later will tell us how good the remission is.
Meanwhile I have maintained the improvement which started quite suddenly last Tuesday. My energy level is better though I'm still in bed by 7.00-7.30 and have a nap every afternoon. My exercise tolerance is much improved and Karine and I are now doing circuits of the street everyday, about 1 3/4 miles and I do a bit on the exercise bike as well. Appetite also improving and the taste problem is slightly better (ie slightly less bad!). I actually feel I'm getting better - marvellous!
Finally Alexi and Lucy are in the last stages of training for the Great North Run a week on Sunday. So far they've raised £2,056 on their JustGiving page which when the gift aid is added and JustGiving's 5% is deducted amounts to £2,3650 for 'Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research' (soon to be called 'Bloodwise'), fantastic.
Alexi & Lucy's JustGiving Page
Next time - The initial bone marrow result, hopefully.
*Sgt Pepper, 4th track!
No comments:
Post a Comment