[bob weinberg]

After 15 full years of living with MDS-RARS with over 800 units of PRBC's transfused and <5% blasts, my CBC results started climbing last month. Over that time I went from 1.7 WBC to 17.0 WBC today. Platelets went from 40,000 to 90,000 and have now dropped back to 70,000. The differential recorded blasts in the periperhal blood of 15%. I had a BMB two weeks ago. The morphology report stated 75%-80% of the marrow was comprised of blasts. As of yesterday, my ANC was reported as "Failure-Instrument limitation Very Abnormal."

I was admitted to Penn yesterday and began induction chemotherapy today with 3 days of 15 minute idarubicine ("IDA") infusions and 7 days of continuous Cytarabine ("ARA-C") infusion. By day 14, my marrow should be cleared-out and my counts should be zero. Hopefully they will rise during the next 14 days. The question is whether the leukemic cells will come back. If the leukemia is gone, then I can go home for a month and come back and get a bone marrow transplant. Don't know the status of the donor search yet.

I can honestly say that I am scared and think the deck is stacked against me. But I believe that there is no alternative to hope.