After 2 years and tons of ups and downs, I finally got a PCR with a zero in it!!!!!! My last one came in at "b2a2 0 .066% and others entirely negative" (quoted my onc).
Since we tend to like to look at each other's numbers, here are my numbers*:
5/17/10 | 5/21/10 | 8/16/10 | 12/13/10 | 4/11/11 | 6/6/11 | 8/8/11 | 11/7/11 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
13.739% (BMA) | 9.378% | 4.921% (first PCR after switch to Sprycel from Gleevec) | 1.334% (BMB & CCR) | .684% | .135% | .283% (BMB) | .066% |
*I did not have a reliable PCR at diagnosis on 11/26/09. I could not get one until I switched oncs six months later. So, my first quantifiable PCR was six months after I was diagnosed.
BTW, the PCR machine they use at LabCorp detects 1:100,000, (my onc made a mistake of telling me it was 1:200,000 a while back). I feel this makes my PCR look lower than what it may actually be. But since I think the PCRs have all been done on the same machine, this trend seems reliable. The limit of assay is <0.001%.
All PCRs, but one, (5/21/10), done on peripheral.
I have a lot to be thankful for during our U.S. Thanksgiving holiday (and the unsettling anniversary that now always comes with it). But maybe this story will have a happy ending after all.
Wishing a long lifetime of thanksgivings to all of us on this board wherever we are in the world,
Teds
P.S. Who wants to come to Chicago for chocolate martinis?