Results from the last BMA

Okay it was good news, bad news so I'll cut to the chase .. not to much rambling. After DNA testing on my bone marrow aspiration, the good news is that my T-cells (the basic building blocks for my blood creation) are my donor's cell's. So my blood and immune system are the new, good cells. Yay.

It's been confirmed again that my fibrosis had returned and the fibrous structures in my marrow are crowding out the good cells. I guess the recent reduction of the immunosupressant (and subsequent releasing of my new immune system) did not attack the fibrosis. I knew that, because I still had not had any other symptoms of the Graft Versus Host Disease we expected.

On to Plan B.... Donor Lymphocyte Infusion.
In simple terms ...get the original donor, collect some of his Lymphocytes in a bag, give the bag of cells to me. Simple. In reality it involves convincing my lovely donor sibling to take a tropical vacation that includes sitting in a chair hooked to a machine (like dialysis) for some hours and then enjoy Queensland while I sit in a chair and get an infusion of lovely cells. then they watch me for a few weeks, take blood tests etc until I have reduced fibrosis.

If it doesn't happen at that strength (lets call it concentration Y) then they have cleverly already collected the next one up, Y x3  and if that doesn't work then they give me concentration Y x9 and so on.

Doc Shoozenbootzen called them "angry cells". I guess they are pissed that they got uprooted from a nice comfortable environment and then they are thrown into this new somewhat familiar environment, "all good here..hey red cells, how you going white cells....but wait that's not my regular looking veins and arteries, and what's that lung! That's not my regular lung and this is not my regular heart! What the hell's going on here, the marrow has this stuff in it.... I'm pissed and going to F**k up something and I'm going to start here with this gunk!

Well his explanation was more medical but I'm sure that what the process is.

Yes yes I can hear you asking .."but that sounds like the transplant you already did?" It is NOT at all like it.
a. The donor does not get growth factor over four days to rev up cell production and therefore does not get flu like symptoms.
b. The cells taken are Lymphcytes not T-Cells (bone marrow cells).
c. I don't get chemo to kill off my old T-cells.
d. Since they are already similar to the blood cells I make now, then there will be less complications and unpleasantness (like my having to take steroids and dex and making my wife crazy)

So any questions?

more later
Chris