Day 159

Hello,

We are back home from Roswell for one more week before Rita starts course 3. Today went very well. The bone marrow biopsy went smoothly - we will probably get the results on Thursday. Rita gained another 2 pounds and is now up to 126. That's 12 pounds in three weeks. I'm still shooting for 130!! Today, Rita asked Dr. Wetzler how she was doing (amoung many other things). He said, and I quote: "You are doing outstanding!!" I can't tell you how good that made us feel. Dr. Wetzler is not the type of person that would just tell you what you want to hear so, when he says "outstanding", that really means alot and that all of Rita's hard work and that all of your prayers are paying off. All of Rita's numbers are excellent. It has been a very encouraging day.

Course 3 will be 30 days with around three days of inpatient chemo each week for three weeks and then a week of rest before the next bone marrow biopsy. Rita will get chemo in her central nervous system, through and IV and orally. They will keep a close watch on her so we will probably be in Buffalo for the entire 30 days. Then, we will probably come home for a bit until the transplant. Its not just having Rita ready for the transplant but, thay have to get the donor ready also. So, the timing will be determined after the next bone marrow biopsy. Rita has let it be known that she wants to get to transplant as soon as possible. She just wants to get on with it so that she can return to a normal life style. Dr. Wetzler understands this but told us that it will all depend on how Rita does over the next course. As we have become accustomed to, we will need to stay flexible, be patient and let the process work out the way it does. We really dodn't have much control over the process but, I think we are doing the right things to have a positive affect on the outcome.

OK - enough for tonight. Goodnight, Dave & Rita