Day 216--Another Week, Another Hole in the Hip Bone

Torger had his latest bone biopsy on Friday. He lies flat on his stomach, and Dr. Tse bores into his bone to extract a big tube of blood and what looks exactly like a core sample from his marrow. My job is to sit at Torger's head holding a bucket because he's always afraid he's going to throw up. He never does, but he always feels like he could...actually, he usually jokes around with Dr. Tse and the nurse through the whole procedure. Torger is very good about demanding the blue liquid morphine he needs to get through it, although he has yet to convince them to give him "seconds." (Being Torger, he'll never quit trying.) This latest drill wasn't as bad as some of them have been in the past, but it's never a fun process, and Torg is usually sore and a little cranky for several days afterward. We won't find out the results for several days yet, but we're hoping everything is continuing to go well. The big risk right now is that the leukemia could come back, and this is where any signs of that would show up. Generally, Torger feels pretty good these days, although he's had more GVHD (graft vs. host disease) since going off the immunosuppressants. He's got a rash around both ankles that is somewhat more severe than the GVHD he's had on his skin before...but still not bad. Dr. Tse said it was just what he wanted to see, and he'd only get concerned if we see it on more than 25% of Torger's body. He also thinks that Torger might have some GVHD in his mouth, which--along with some peripheral neuropathy--would explain the trouble he has tasting food. He thought Torger's lungs still sounded a little funky, so he gave him a couple of inhalers to start using regularly, and they already seem to be helping. So now we're just waiting for biopsy results and hoping they're clear so that he won't have to get drilled for another six months!