[bailie]

Thank you for your comments. We are all trying to learn from each other's situation. Very tough decisions and not as much guidance as we all desire.

It is interesting how limited these very intelligent doctors are with this disease. There are so many variables with different reactions to each of these variables. For me I have been wanting for a simple answer that I realize isn't available. In my case I relapsed at about +210 days with a slight drop in chimerism. The Vidaza quickly turned that around to 100 percent chimerism (which in itself is somewhat misleading) so is my transplant back on track or am I in the same position as before transplant? My doctors really have no answer and I can understand why.

I feel that there is what I have termed a "susceptibility crisis" that greatly affects the growth of leukemia/MDS. For me it was a lung infection and the very high dosage of prednisone (160 mg/day) combined with the temporary diabetes II that coincided with my relapse (30 percent blast count). When the infection was resolved and a rapid taper of prednisone, the Vidaza worked well. So I am in "limbo" in wondering if I am back on track with the transplant (and a cure) or if I am in a temporary position of maintenance? I guess (as we all understand) "time will tell" and the doctors will get another little "tidbit" of knowledge.

p.s. The journey across country with my daughter and 300 lbs of dogs was a complete success. I drove for 12 hours each of the four days and averaged 600 miles per day. The pulling of a trailer slowed us down a little bit, but not badly.