This word I like... We architect our life...
A song, a sigh... developing words that linger...
Through fields of green, through open eyes... It's for us to see.
Interanimate: To animate or inspire mutually

Friday, February 13, 2009

Only Bad Witches are Ugly

"Only Bad Witches are Ugly" -Glinda, Wizard of Oz, 1939

No bad witches in my most recent, and final, bone marrow biopsy report.
I got a copy of the report from the nurse yesterday at my phlebotomy. The report is prolly meant to be translated by a doctor, but I can pick out the key news. Since this was my 6th BMB I know what to look for.

"bone marrow is normocellular with orderly hematopoiesis"
- red blood cell production is active and normal

"significant dysplastic features are absent from all three lineages."
- Red, White, and platelet cells are NOT abnormal (dysplastic)

The final report that I dont have yet from the BMB is the 'Chimerism' report. Somehow, the lab analysts can count the stem cells in the sample and group them into 2 categories;
1. Stem Cells of Donor DNA.
2. Stem Cells of my own DNA.
As far as my marrow stem cells go, it would be far greater if they all showed the DNA of my donor. My last 2 Chimerism studies showed 100% donor. I cant imagine this will change.

I have only a few phlembotomies left now. My iron levels (Ferritin) are rapidly returning to normal. The procedure takes only 15 minutes. The silver lining is that I get to visit with my wonderful nurse friends I've known for almost 3 years now.

Well, finally got my first 'cold'. I'm happy to report that it is a lot less severe (so far) than my last cold in November of 2007. I've taken off work the last 2 days in order to recover properly. My new immune system is handling this bug very nicely. Yay!

So why the leading quote from the Good witch of the north? I dunno. I got kinda fascinated with the Wizard of Oz last month in terms of it's many messages of hope and redemption. I thought Glinda's quote was kinda funny. I re-watched the movie, read the screenplay, and read the original story by Frank Baum published in 1900. It's amazing how different the screenplay is from the original.