We are thankful for our M who has been with us since we were 4 weeks old. Here we are on our first walk with her. We are thankful for V who we have only known a couple weeks but we have already adore! We are thankful for the last two weeks we have gotten to spend with Mema. We are thankful for Dad who is picking up all of the parenting shifts while mini-Mommy is stuck in his iPhone.
Mom was thankful that she got the results of both her day 1 and day 12 biopsies today. The cytogenetics of the day 1 biopsy revealed that the detectable mutations of her relapse AML are different from her initial diagnosis:
Feb 2012: NPM1, trisomy 8
Aug 2013: NPM1, FLT3 (TKD) and IDH1
These different mutations don't change the plan of action to proceed towards transplant or the overall prognosis but they do help explain why Mom's relapse symptoms differed from the initial diagnosis. The doctors know a lot but technology can't tell us every detail about a particular cancer....yet!
The day 12 biopsy revealed 4% blasts (immature cells, possibly cancerous). Mom had 90% blasts (immature cells, definitely cancerous since less than 5% is normal) at relapse. Although this is an impressive drop, Dr. M would have been happier with 0%. Looking on the bright side, at least Mom's chemo decimated most of the blasts already! 50% of relapsed AML doesn't respond to induction. The decline she has achieved thus far makes Mom feel lucky.
Instead of deciding now whether to do or not to do another induction round, the doctors will delay this decision until another biopsy on this Tuesday. They would like to see if and how the 4% changes in a week's time.
In the meantime Mom will continue to enjoy her chemo-stay-cation at the hospital. Mom was also thankful for the 1 unit of platelets she was gifted today and visits Mema, Daddy and Chocolate Shatner. Here's Mom's Day:
Our day:
Images from beyond:
always good to know more information, and encouraging to learn that your body responded well to this round of chemo (even if it wasn't 0%).
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