Day 25

Deb had her first rough night of round 2 last night -- she did not sleep -- and she spiked a fever. She was on the phone to Joey and I shortly after 6:00 am this morning and she was not feeling well. But she is a trooper and intends to see this second round through.

We got the call today that Dr. Porter would see us between 10:00 and 11:00 today to explain where we are and where we are likely to go. I was able to get there about 2 minutes before the meeting and Deb had a good talk with Dr. Porter. He explained to us that he expected a better response from round 1 of the chemo and he down played the long arm chromosome 6 abnormality. In his view, since we can now see the problem, because of the advances in science, that simply identifies the abnormality. They are still not sure what deleted 6q means in the overall scheme of things and he remained positive. The course of treatment would not change one bit. As I understood it, perhaps the absence of the 6q abnormality would have made the first round more successful, but it certainly does not determine the outcome.

Dr. Porer's advice was that we will continue the high dose course of treatment and have another bone marrow biopsy in 2 weeks. If Deb is clean, we will discuss next steps. If she is not clean, he said that we will have a different kind of discussion.

So, we need to hope for the best for Deb -- send maximum positive energy to the east and keep those prayers going. Nothing else has seemed to work.

Deb sends her love to all.