Day 224--Leukemia No More!

Dr. Tse just sent us the initial results from Torger's most recent bone marrow biopsy. There are no signs of leukemia, and all the previous genetic markers indicating Torger's predisposition toward leukemia are gone. This is just fantastic news. I'm posting the chart he sent showing the progress in terms of leukemia cells since his diagnosis a year ago. As recently as January, some leukemia cells were still evident, which is why they want to see Torger have some Graft Versus Host Disease...the GVHD indicates that the donor's healthy cells are really getting in there and cleaning the bad stuff out of his system. To interpret the chart, AML indicates the leukemia cells in Torger's system...100% AML in the positive column would be very, very bad. Zero percent in the positive column is just wonderful. You can see the impact of the chemotherapy, which put Torger into remission...and you can also see the bad cells trying to re-emerge right before the transplant in October.

Even though we know the disease can still come back, this is a very big, positive sign.

Click on the image to enlarge it and make it readable...it's quite interesting!