Last First Day

Today could potentially be my last first day of chemo. EVER. It feels strange to already be here but crazy to think that this has been my life for the past 6 months. It's also one of those things where I want to say "Yes, this is it!" but at the same time, I know I've got the next 5 years to wait before I can officially say those words. I guess, in the meantime, I'll celebrate the small victories and consider myself nearly complete with the first stage of my version of the Hunger Games. 

The plan after this round of chemo is to let my counts recover for a couple of weeks and then go to Seattle for a bone marrow biopsy and meeting with my doctor to once again determine if I have any minimum residual disease (MRD). In the event that there was any MRD, I would have one more consolidation round of chemo (same thing I'm currently doing) to hopefully get it out of my system. Although, in my mind, I've had my decision made that if I was MRD positive (meaning there was some residual leukemia cells in my marrow), I would opt for the stem cell transplant which is a huge undertaking. I was MRD negative in February and based on how I've felt over the last 2 rounds of chemo, I think I'm still there. It's just kind of a lot to have hanging over me until I get the results of the biopsy. Until the biopsy results, I'll have to keep my eyes on the prize...medium rare ribeye steak dinner at El Gaucho, Toby Krutz? 

As somewhat of an early celebration, I'm looking forward to my parents and brother coming out to visit the first week of August. Remi and I will meet them in the Paradise Valley south of Livingston to RV it for 3 days along the Yellowstone River. It should be a good time showing them Yellowstone, hopefully Grand Teton, and Livingston and just enjoying the views and company. 

I have so many things to be thankful for and look forward to. Now, to power through the next 3 weeks.