75 year old father just diagnosed with AML

Hi Lori,

My dad seems like he's getting stronger and starting to feel better (he's also put on 10 pounds!). Yesterday, I took him for a blood transfusion, and they don't believe he will need one next week (fingers crossed). His red blood cells and platelets are starting to go up, but his white blood cells are still below one, so they are delaying his second round of chemo a week. They are hoping for his white blood cell count will rebound somewhere between 2-3 before his next round of chemo.

Talk to you soon,
Ryan

This is such great news, Ryan! I’m so happy Greg is feeling better! It can take a while but once those blood numbers start climbing again, it can make all the difference in the world for the overall general feeling of health and well-being…right in time for the next round. But it gives promise to Greg to know he can feel better again and so with the next round he’ll know what to expect. Though just so you know, from my experience, rebound can take a little longer after each round of chemo.
Having to delay chemo briefly isn’t unusual either while waiting for some slow-poke cells to come up to normal. Sometimes the day after the last day of chemo, doctors will give patients an injection of Neulasta to help boost the white blood count.
In any event, I’d say your dad is every bit the trooper he’s been throughout his life! Give him my best and keep me updated! Lori

Hi Ryan, my gosh has it really been since June that we spoke??? That’s crazy how time has flown. Please tell me about your dad! Has he been doing well with his treatments for AML?

Hi Lori, thanks for reaching out and sorry for the delay! My dad is doing well. He’s still doing his initial treatment and just started another round of chemotherapy today. The treatment is starting to affect his bone density and it’s taking longer for his counts to recover, so they are going to space his treatments out every nine weeks from five weeks, which is a little scary (don’t like the idea of changing what’s working, but he has a great medical team). How are doing?

Hi Ryan, It’s great your dad is doing so well with his treatments! Love to hear news like that! It can certainly be rough on our bones. I had the same thing happen when going through intensive chemo and the transplant. The year before, my dexa showed no signs of osteopenia. 3 months post transplant (a year after my last dexa) I had degraded to osteoporosis.
Exercising with weights/stretch bands, targeted hip and core exercises, calcium & magnesium glycinate supplements, added protein and foods rich in calcium made a significant difference. Your dad might ask his medical team for suggestions for improving his bone loss. Hopefully for your dad, having that much needed break between cycles will allow for some healing of bone and blood cell production. Don’t fear the extra 4 week interval between cycles. From my experience, it’s not uncommon to have a small resting period between cycles when there’s been a good response. As you’ve mentioned, your dad has a great medical team and it’s not their first rodeo. So they’ve got his back and will keep a close eye on him.
I’m doing awesome, thank you for asking. Looking forward to my 6th “Cell”ebration June 28!
Thanks for the update about your dad! Give him a high five for me! ☺️
Is he out walking and being active daily?

I am so happy for you and will be thinking about you and praying for you on the 28th! My dad is doing his best to stay active but unfortunately he fell and sustained a minor fracture in a vertebrae. Obviously they cannot operate, so he wears a brace and manages the pain. Some days are worse than others, but he hasn’t allowed it to drag him down! I reached out to Lindagi in November to see how they were doing but haven’t heard back yet. Do you know how they are doing?

Ryan, I’m so sorry to hear that your dad fell. Poor guy, that’s the last thing he needed right now. Back pain is so miserable and healing takes time with a lot of moaning and groaning in between! Hopefully the discomfort eases soon!

Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers with my upcoming anniversary! I am forever grateful for the gift I’ve been given. 🙏

It’s odd you didn’t hear from @lindagi after you contacted her. Maybe she didn’t receive the notice for some reason. But I do know she’s alive, well and continues to be an inspiration for others in the forum! I’ve been in contact with her recently. Now that I tagged her in this conversation maybe she’ll pop into chat!
Please keep me in the loop with your dad! ☺️

Happy “cellebration” Lori! Hope you are having a great day and here is to many, many, many more🥳

Aw, that was sweet of you to remember, Ryan. Thank you! Hah, it’s not often we get two birthdays every year! So I used it as an excuse to do a little retail therapy and to indulge in ‘sometime’ foods that I don’t eat often, as a treat. It’s always humbling to know without the transplant, I’d be long gone by now…at least 5 years! So these are bonus rounds! ☺️

Congratulations Lori. Terrific milestone to mark💕
Fortunately for those of us who elect not to do a BMT or are not a candidate the researchers are developing MENIN drugs to help with the AML battle and the associated mutations like FLT3 and NPM1. So if we relapse there is something to try to get us to 5+ years post diagnosis🤞🏼