Remission Intermission

So, as many of you do know and many do not know, the leukemia is back, showing its ugly self last Wednesday.

Treatment at this point would be aimed at second remission with bone marrow stem cell transplant afterwards.  Second remission would be more likely with novel agents because the stuff used before clearly didn't do the job.  At Simon Cancer Center, they use an enzyme with 25% efficacy at getting the second remission.  At other centers, there are clinical trials of agents that are much more effective.  So, we are looking at treatment elsewhere.

One treatment, called CART-19, takes T cells from the person, engineers them into cancer killers, then puts them back into the person for what sounds like a promising avenue to remission. This treatment is being done at UPenn, Sloan Kettering, NIH, and Hutchinson (Seattle). I am working with my IU Health medical insurance to get them to allow us to go to Philly, since Olivia lives there and Lily can farily easily come over. Earlier this week, I was told to prepare to go to Northwestern for a different treatment within a few days. That idea has been changed to a recommendation to go straight to UPenn. I think it may be less sudden when we go to one of the CART centers, but still a big transition.

If we need to be gone for a while, the yard rabbit will be delighted. He/She will no longer be subjected to my curses and pleading when I find yet another ornamental chewed to oblivion. Why doesn't it eat the grass and clover? Better yet: it should eat the daylilys that take over if not managed... I have considered buying rabbit food, but think that this would also encourage the squirrels, who I also wish would leave my garden alone. I am turning into Elmer Fudd.