Today did not go quite as planned. Doesn’t mean it was all bad though.

So the original plan for today was to get my lumbar puncture and then be discharged. Well I am still here in my hospital room unfortunately. My pancreatitis is going to take more time to heal. I’m on clear fluids only for now to give it some rest. Lots and lots of chicken broth for Lindsey.

Luke came to visit and hold my hand for the lumbar puncture. The process was over so quickly and went smoothly. Then I just had to lay flat for a while. It was nice having Luke here to just watch TV and chat and have company. It brought a feeling of “normalcy” to the day.

Waking up with that pancreatitis pain this morning I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go home today. I was so disappointed. It was comforting to have Luke by my side for a few hours.

Even though I’m not going home today, I did get some great news! My minimal residual disease test came back and I am MRD negative!

There is no detectable leukemia in my bone marrow!!

I was glad Luke was here to hear it because I honestly just went blank. There’s still so much more treatment to come to keep me this way but I am so thankful that my body responded well to the first round of treatment.

My next phase of treatment will be the central nervous system prevention phase. During this I will get brain radiation and lumbar punctures to prevent the leukemia from potentially spreading into my central nervous system.

So while today did not go as expected, I think the good news outweighs the disappointment of spending a couple extra days in the hospital.

Love, LB