Day 5 - Results are in but incomplete

I'm sorry to keep everyone waiting. We waited for the doctor until it was apparent he wouldn't be coming until late this afternoon. Knowing that we had another day without the therapy beginning, Courtney wanted to take advantage of the day to see the kids again. So I went and got Kylie and Miranda out of school early (didn't have to twist any arms there) and picked up Emma and Aidan too. Just as we returned to the hospital, Courtney's sister, Kelley, arrived. We had a really nice afternoon letting the kids visit with Court again and hanging out with Aunt Kelley and Courtney's parents.

Finally, Dr. Jordan arrived sometime around 5:00. While we did get more answers, the diagnosis is not complete. However, the news we did get is relatively good. AML was once again confirmed by the pathology report. And, according to the phenotyping and genetic markers found thus far, Dr. Jordan said that they believe they've narrowed the AML type down to two of the possible eight FAB (French-American-British classification) subtypes: M0 and M3. He said that if he could choose any two of the eight to have, meaning the two with the best prognosis, it would be these two. M0 and M3 have significantly different treatment plans. So, until the diagnosis is 100% (hopefully sometime tomorrow) there will be no treatment. He did reassure us that this delay, so to speak, does not affect prognosis. Another bit of good news.

He did recommend starting her on an "unconventional" form of treatment tonight. There she goes again beating the odds. The medication/chemotherapy he suggested starting tonight is called Gleevec. It's typically used to treat Chronic Myologenous Leukemia (hers is Acute) and Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST). The reason being is that Courtney's results contained a marker common to those. He's not sure why. He did say that the Gleevec has relatively minor side affects but could help lower her blast counts (that would be a good thing). So, we followed his advice. Unfortunately, as I was putting the kids to bed, I couldn't be here when she took it. But it sounds like it was not a pleasant experience. She had to dissolve the pills into a liquid (she chose apple juice) and drink it. She was still feeling nauseous from it when I returned. If anyone reading this has ever had to take Gleevec this way, and knows something better to use than apple juice, advice would be welcomed.

We still can't get over the outpouring of love and support from our family and friends. It truly has been tremendous. We only wish we could accept every generous offer. However, if we accepted every offer to watch and care for our children, we would be 80 by the time we saw them again. So we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts and we truly love you.