[Chad S]

Bailie and Dan, Thank you for posting your updates, I know they are so helpful to others in the same situation. There are many success stories but they aren't told enough, so I want to add an update on my wife's status. She had her 2 year follow up at MD Anderson in May and all of her counts are normal and she had no blasts in blood or marrow. She is not on any type of chemo or immuno-suppressants and has had all of her immunization shots. The doctor gave her a hug and told her to come back in a year. We are not out of the woods yet but her chances for relapse dropped significantly at the 2 year mark. She did not have acute gvhd and has had very mild chronic gvhd. Mainly itchy eyes and occasional stomach cramps and nausea, but her symptoms are not frequent.

She was diagnosed in February of 2013 with MDS RAEB II. She presented with pancytopenia and 19% blasts (blasts in marrow and blood) and normal chromosomes. MUD BMT in May 2013.

She went to the beach this May and can now have a glass of wine with dinner, so life is good. She still gets tired easily and can "overheat," which is a term we use for when she is outside in hot weather for too long and she gets a horrible headache and just feels awful, so we work very hard for that not to happen. When she goes to the beach, our son's baseball games, etc she stays under shade at all times.

The reality of what she went through is always in the back of our minds, and a part of us feels like we are sometimes waiting for the other shoe to drop. But life is very good right now and we are enjoying it!

I read all of your stories on this forum and hope and pray for continued progress for you.