Welcome to Houston/MD Anderson

It's been a long day and I am tired.. but will quickly get everyone up to speed.

Today was my first appointment at MD Anderson. I'm finding my way around Houston and really impressed so far. They only deal with cancer and each department only deals with a certain type of cancer. The only downside is that there is a lot of waiting around--so you can't get in a hurry and appts. don't start on time--but that is a small price to pay for good care.

I'm going to have some new tests and they will then repeat some of the tests done in Atlanta. But they will probably go a different route. First do 2 or so cycles of chemo and then the stem cell transplant from a DONOR. So I will have to find a donor match. The benefit of a donor is that it will attack any cancer cells that may be left. The downside is it puts you at risk for Graft versus Host disease. It's a bit difficult to explain (and can be short term or show up months later) but basically certain body parts can be attacked by new cells. Skin problems, liver problem, etc. are possible. But it's the hospital's method b/c more likely to lead to a cure. Especially for younger people like myself. And there are medicines I will take to minimize the side effects. Most problems will probably show up in the first year, so I will be careful during that time frame.

The good news is the new doc says my initial chemo will probably be a lot less intensive than I had the first time around I was on (CODOX-M, IVAC) and is not for the faint at heart. Just when I felt good, they knocked me down again. But I made it through that before. (as you can read in prior blog posts from the first time around).

Well, I will write more when I can. Stay tuned.