[Al's Wife]

Well, we made the decision to change our local treatment back to Emory and we went there today. It was a LONG day as the doctor was running quite a bit behind. But we got labs and waited to see the doctor - and waited and waited! However, it was worth the wait. And even though he said essentially what our other doctor's office had said, at least this time we got it straight from the doctor (instead of his nurse) and he explained the whys and what ifs. The platelets were 9,000 (up from 6,000 last week) and I thought this was a great sign. However, the doctor said any time they are under 10,000 that they really can't be measured accurately whether they are 1,000 or 9,000 - they are just under 10,000. BUT he said Al does not need to get platelets unless he is actively bleeding and as long as he stays on the Amicar (the medicine to help with clotting). After taking the Amicar over the weekend, the blood blisters in his mouth are almost completely healed.
He has agreed to monitor Al locally and send the labs down to Tampa. He and our doctor in Tampa know each other quite well, so I think that will make it easier to get cooperation between them.
So for now, we are feeling a little better about things, at least as far as the need for platelet transfusions.
We go to Moffitt in Tampa on Tuesday and will get labs and bone marrow biopsy on Wednesday. I'm just hoping the blast numbers haven't gone up.
Hope all of you are having a good week.