And wait some more

Thursday 1 March


Some things can be unnerving and a relief at the same time. The short of today's posting is that the doctors still aren't sure.


This morning Lara and I went to Saint Luke's to undergo a well-rehearsed routine. Register, wait, blood sample, wait some more, bone marrow puncture and evaluation.


As we talked to Lara's hematologist, we learned that the blood sample was not looking good. Major values were down compared to the most recent sample; in other words the upward curve we saw last time (call it a surge) was not sustained. The platelets continued their downward trend. The doctor had no explanation for the surge, but didn't find the overall picture very encouraging.  Lara generally had felt well over the intervening days, she told the doctor, even though recently she had met with a loss of appetite and was tiring more easily. With her current blood balance that was not surprising, was the answer. The doctor was all the more eager to do a puncture, and would call us tonight as usual.


She called as we were getting dinner together, at 7:15PM, and came straight to the point. The bone marrow presented a picture similar to that of two weeks ago: immature cells that were not dispositive either way, and sightings of chromosome-12 with a piece missing. None of it convincing, no basis for an unequivocal judgment and certainly no grounds for treatment at this point. They were going to send the sample to another lab for a second opinion and would let us now tomorrow, Friday, or Monday in case that would yield anything worth mentioning.


Another reprieve. Better news than "sorry, but there has been a complete rechute and we have to start treatment as soon as possible". That is the big relief with all of this. Unnerving is the Damocles predicament in the story. You don't know if or when, if ever, it will come down. It looks to us as though Lara's body is somehow fighting back. Whoever has a better opinion, please speak up. Now would be a good time.