Day 36--Gettin' Our Kicks

Despite the title of this post, this has been a pretty low-key day. I just couldn't think of anything else to rhyme with 36. Sicks? Picks? Tom Mix? Nothing seems appropriate. And we have had a little bit of fun, thanks to a quick visit from our friend Maggie, who stopped by the hotel lobby long enough to give me a hug and drop off a really cool little remote control helicopter for Torger to fly around the hotel room. Another good friend, Dave Z., was in town for a dentist appointment and dropped by for a quick hello with Torger (after we doused him with Purell). So I guess we've had our share of kicks for the day. Torger is able to have an occasional visitor now, as long as it's someone who doesn't have kids or work in a library, a school, or anywhere else where germs run rampant. This rules out many of our immediate family members and friends, unfortunately! But it really was good to see a couple of friendly faces this afternoon. Torger had a pretty uneventful doctor's appointment this afternoon, where Dr. Tse just reiterated how well Torger is doing. He said he guessed that Torger is probably in about the top 1% in terms of his post-transplant recovery, and there's no real explanation as to why we've been so lucky. Torger's dad, Jon, suggested good karma, and that's about as reasonable an explanation as any. We think it's Dr. Tse's good karma working on our behalf! It's hard to really communicate the level of personal interest and concern he takes in his patients, to the point where he actually calls twice a day to check in on those days when we're not at the hospital. He even called from Ohio when he was there on a personal visit. We're really grateful that he's our tour guide on this strange and winding journey.

Day 34--Couldn't Ask for More

Dr. Tse just called with the results of Torger's bone-marrow biopsy from last Wednesday. The exact word he used to describe Torger's progress was "fantastic." He said about 91% of Torger's T-cells are now the healthy donor cells, and he added, "This is very, very positive. This is an excellent number. You really couldn't expect a better number than this." He sounded as overwhelmed as we feel at hearing this great news.

(From MedicineNet.com: "T cell: A type of white blood cell that is of key importance to the immune system and is at the core of adaptive immunity, the system that tailors the body's immune response to specific pathogens. The T cells are like soldiers who search out and destroy the targeted invaders." The "T" in T-cell stands for thymus...although I like Mom's suggestion that it stands for Torger.)

Torger is continuing to surprise them...at this point post-transplant, they would expect him to have about 10-15% cell regrowth in his marrow, and he's at 50%.

We know we have to be cautious and can't let down our guard, but for the moment, we are feeling incredibly fortunate.