One Giant Leap...

...ok not that giant a leap, but good news came today.

My blood numbers weren't perfect, but they are within the right parameters. Soooo, that means I can continue to the next phase of the chemotherapy treatments, which will begin prepping my body for the first of two transplants. This one is my own stem cells ( autologous ).

I'll go through about a month of treatments. I'll be receiving Cytoxan, Dexamsthasone, Etoposide, Neupogen and Levaquin. I have no idea what the drugs will do, except make me better, so it's all good

Once that's all done, I'll go into the hospital to begin the stem cell harvest. That can be a 2 to 5 day process. Once that is done I will enter the final phase of chemotherapy treatments. That's when they'll use Melphalan on me. In addition to making me better, it'll make me baldy, too.

The final step of this phase will be the transplant of the stem cells that were harvested from me. The harvest and transplant are done through a catheter, so the process isn't much different than someone who is donating platelets.

I'm so excited to be advancing to the next step. There is a definite finish line in sight. I have to keep in mind that I'm still up against a cancer without a cure, but at the same time, I have to remember that every cure starts with one patient.

The fight goes on, and I'm thrilled for the chance to slug it out.