Update July 23rd

This is Fred with a recap of yesterday's visit at Mayo. My blood counts remain below normal, but are better than before the recent hospitalization.

First for the little good news there was :  The Leukemia is in Clinical Remission.

As a serious side effect of the Chemotherapy, I have now developed Myelodysplastic Syndrome. This is another Blood Disorder and is just as serious/deadly as the Leukemia.  This is the same disease that Robin Roberts from ABC TV developed after her treatment for Breast Cancer. Google her name & you can read about MDS and her struggles.

The MDS is suppressing my Bone Marrow from creating enough new Blood Cells. This is the cause of my Anemia. The plan is to treat this with weekly injections of Procrit to boost the Blood Cell production with the hopes that within 3-6 months the Red Blood Cells & Hemoglobin will  show improvement. If the Procrit does not work, we will start serious talks about a Bone Marrow Transplant.

Procrit does not boost the White Blood Cells and they are also a concern. The Dr. wants to wait another month or two to see if they can improve on their own. If there is no improvement, then we will try weekly injections of Neupogen to try and boost them to normal.

I'll be getting weekly Blood Tests so the progress or lack there of can be measured.