I have taken a long break from blogging and as a result there is a lot to share! Since my first round of induction chemotherapy I have received a biopsy, gone through a second round of chemo, talked with a transplant doctor, and am currently navigating recovery while being back home.

After my first round of chemo I was scheduled a bone marrow biopsy to see the effect of the chemo drug and whether or not it put me in remission. It successfully did so, to the point that less than 2% of bone marrow blasts were detected. With this news they were able to start me on a 3 day high dose cytarabine (HiDAC) regimen.

Consolidation chemo felt a lot simpler this time around. I received 2, 3 hour infusions every other day for a total of 6 treatments. I was discharged just hours after my last dose ended. I noticed this time around I had a lot more aches than my last. I was able to eat just fine, and I had no issues with throwing up as I previously had.

I was given a lot of helpful information from my appointment with the transplant doctor. I am placed in the intermediate risk group of people with AML. “Good” risk means that AML could be treated into complete remission with just chemotherapy. High risk, meaning chemo is not enough to suppress cancer cells so transplant is needed. Intermediate could really go either way but the risk is that if you relapse it is harder to treat. Considering that both my sisters ended up being matches for me (Praise God!) my doctor recommended I go through with transplant. Transplant comes with both a higher chance of cure and also a lot of baggage.

It has been nice recovering at home but it also has a huge learning curve. I feel like it’s expected that you’re not going to feel great while your immune system is dropping. On top of that I was put on some new medication that had some pretty uncomfortable side effects. I reached out after a particulary hard day and was directed to go to the ER for a CT scan on my brain and some blood tests. They transfuse platelets to any number under 20 and I happened to be at 1. I was given a platelet transfusion and no brain bleeds were detected in the CT scan so I was good to go back home.

Right now there is a lot of planning happening. If all goes as they are expecting I will be receiving a stem cell transplant in the beginning of April. I will be hospitalized for at least a month and then recover for the next year, tentatively.