Mayo Results

Well, it seems like I have been to Mecca. Got back from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester about an hour ago. After driving down this morning for a blood test at 10 am, I met with Dr. Alayew Tefferi about 3:30pm. I actually met with a med student from India for about 45 minutes while she reviewed my case and summarized it for the Dr. I spent only about 10 minutes with the Dr.

In summary, he cut right to the chase, saying that I was seeing him because he was THE expert. He said that I had chronic myeloid disease, a general term to cover all the variations of MPD and MDS. It does not matter what you call it since it eventually all leads to AML, acute myelocytic leukemia, when the bone marrow shuts down and all blood counts drop. Medicines and transfusions can reduce the symptoms but it is just a matter of time, maybe 5 years. He did say that my current marrow was not that critical, with less than 5% blasts (undeveloped cells). He looked me straight in the eye, with his hand on my knee and said "If you were my brother, I would recommend a BMT, sooner rather than later". He said my brother's marrow stem cells were the best option and if I delayed further that they should be harvested and frozen. As I was driving home, listening a classical music station on the radio, I stopped at the Trinity Lone Oak Church in Eagan for a stretch and a short prayer asking God to tell me what to do. Then I got to thinking. What better sign than one of the top (self-acclaimed) experts in the world telling me what he would tell his brother. Time to start planning in earnest.

Interestingly, my Hgb was still up at 10.1 today though still a typical drop of 1 point over the past week. Looks like I can delay a transfusion another week. I still need to go in for a Aranesp shot this week. Maybe that stuff is working though I am still working the chocolate milk theory.