Bone Marrow Biopsy Results

My oncologist called yesterday and the first thing she asked was if Dan was around to hear the results. Immediately I started to panic and thought oh no, maybe it’s not what we thought it was. We were thinking that I had little to no leukemia in my blood, but maybe this wasn’t the case? I told her he wasn’t home, but that it was okay, I’d relay the message. Truth be told, I couldn’t wait any longer!

She asked if I was ready and of course I said YES! “Well, it is ALL good news, Kristin…” The first test showed there was NO leukemia in the blood and another test that is a bit more intricate, also showed NO leukemia! They are waiting for a genetic test to come back yet (which is the most intricate of them all) and she said it may show some, but to not worry because that is why they do the consolidation treatments.

The words excellent, COMPLETE remission, NO leukemia, best case scenario, this is what we were hoping for, were all words that she said. I even wrote them down as she spoke them to ensure I heard her correctly. I was bouncing off the walls. She finally said, “Kristin, the chemo is working.” I cry as I type that because I sometimes wonder if I’ve still processed that I even have leukemia! Those 3 weeks in the hospital are such a blur and honestly, I can’t even believe that all happened. There were days I didn’t think I could do it and wanted to give up. But here we are, a month later, being told that so far, there is NO leukemia showing after the intense chemo they put me on. And the funny part? My blood actually has too many GOOD blood cells and as my doctor said, “Your body has actually overshot itself.” That’s nothing of my own doing or the doctor’s, but PURELY GOD. It’s all His grace and power.

I do still have to go back on Monday to Ann Arbor for what they call my consolidation treatments. What this means is basically they will give me the same chemo, just at a lesser dose, and I can go home after these treatments, instead of having to stay there for 2 weeks after. Monday I will start my first treatments, meet with my doctor, start infusions, and get admitted. It’ll be a big day and I’m dreading it, yet I also want to just git er dun too. I feel physically ready and though it will be up and down, now I’m a little more prepared for what to expect. I will go home at the end of the week and then go in for regular blood draws to determine if I need blood transfusions (which they anticipate me needing). Unfortunately for the first week at home, I will have to go back to U of M for transfusions until I can meet with a local doctor here to receive them (which he’ll be out of town the first week). They feel terrible about that, but I keep thinking, it’s one week, and yes it’s a long drive to get transfusions, but I also know this is temporary.

My days are filled with many phone calls, scheduling appointments, and figuring out the next steps, but each day is another day in the books of my leukemia journey. On a side note, I also am dealing with my heart failure on top of this, and my heart doctors are trying to figure out the next steps in this journey too. It’s a lot of med changes and ensuring they can fend off a heart transplant as long as they can. The doctors put me on a new med to protect my heart from worsening symptoms, seeing how my ejection fraction (how hard the heart squeezes), hasn’t improved at all, even after all the med increases. Kind of disheartening and not what we wanted to hear, but it’s also not getting worse. It’s at 29%, which isn’t good. But it’s also stable, which is fair. This week reminded me that even though leukemia is front and center, my heart failure isn’t going away, and so battling both mentally can be a lot. Sometimes when U of M calls, I have to figure out which ailment they are calling about and what issue I’m scheduling an appointment for. Mind-boggling at times, and yet God has sustained!

And I feel GOOD. I look at how I was doing a week ago, and I feel I have made so much progress. I don’t have to take my anti-nausea med every day, I don’t have to nap as frequently, and I have more energy. I know this will all decrease starting next week again, but I’m loving the break God has given me! I went to physical therapy this week and realized how far I have to go to get to where I should be, but that is why I go. Movements that would’ve been easy peasy a month ago, I struggled to do 10. But it motivated me to keep fighting and keep trying because this girl is not going to give up!

Thank you for your continued prayers and support as we continue this journey of heart failure and leukemia. It’ll be long, and the heart failure will always be there, but being able to manage both at the same time, is all God. We couldn’t be more thankful for His provision and grace!