Hi Lodi! ! It’s always a pleasure to hear from you and to catch up on Richard’s progress.

Oh those pesky viruses. EBV and also CMV are 2 viruses that can appear anytime someone has a compromised immune system if already a carrier. Both are so common in the general population, something like 80% of people carry the virus. In most instances our body’s immune system keeps them from proliferating and causing any issues.

Before transplant the donor and the recipients blood is tested for the possibility of the viruses. In my case, i was a rare bird and had no previous CMV in my blood. But my donor did. So after transplant my blood was monitored weekly for CMV. At about the same point in time where Richard is in his transplant, CMV started to show up in my bloodwork. My tacro was reduced a little and that did the trick. It’s basically giving a little longer leash to the new, aggressive stem cells to see if they will do their job at defending against the virus. In my case, it worked wonders.

You’re right that your husband may not need any more Rituximab with his tacro trough being down to 7. That’s the ‘sweet spot’… Enough suppression to keep any gvhd down and still allows his immune system to work some magic.

Waiting for the results of the BMB is a test of patience, isn’t i? It usually takes 5 days until all of the segments of the biopsy and examination are complete. I’m hoping all is well and that donor DNA rules! 😉

Thank you for your sweet comments. I’m really feeling 100% back to normal and grateful to be waking up every morning. Every day is a gift which I’ll never take for granted again.

Have you been doing any painting or writing? ☺️