Doctor Gotlieb is very happy!

It is not expcected to see evidence of response to the chem (azacididine) drug that they are using until the second cycle at the earliest but there is an indication (from lab results) that Andrew is responding after only one cycle. The idea is to use this treatment to stomp on the disease and get it under control enough to then try donor cells again from Andrew's brother. They will know what is really going on with the disease when they do a bone marrow biopsy and so the plan is to do another cycle of 7 days starting tomorrow. The blood counts will then go down again as a result of the chemo the following week but hopeful recover and then come up a bit towards the end of the month. If that happens, they will do a bone marrow biopsy at the end of April to see what is happening in the marrow and make decisions about how to proceed based on the results. The hematology team will consult with the Bone Marrow Transplant team to work out what to do and when. It was not a given that Andrew would respond to the chemo offered (he is the first with his particular disease and prior treatment to try this) so it is great to have an indication that it is probably doing what they hoped it would at this stage. Still neutropenic so confined to base but good news is always a boost to morale etc.