On Sat, 13 Aug 2016 15:23:42 +0100, Doctor John wrote:

> ... but the war's not over.
> 
> I am officially in remission :-D Yesterday, I met with probably the best
> Stem Cell Transplant consultant in Britain* (every medical person I've
> met sings his praises). After the usual verbal sparring (designed so
> that he could measure my mental and emotional state) we got down to
> business.
> 
> His opening statement was "You're in remission, so ...". I managed to
> keep myself from bouncing off the ceiling - I knew that what he was
> going to say next was important. My choices boiled down to:
> 	1. Carry on with the regime I'm currently on.
> 	2. Go for an Autologous Stem Cell Transplant 3. Go for an 
Allogeneic
> 	SCT from a relation 4. Go for an Unrelated Allogeneic SCT
> 
> The prognoses for each choice were:
> 	1. You will relapse and probably (80%) be dead within 2 years. 2. 
As
> 	above but this time 5 years. No risk of GvHD**
> 	3. GvHD raises it's ugly head. 15% mortality***. But 10 years# 4. 
Again
> 	as above but up to 20% mortality. However, who knows##
> 
> I've rejected 1 and 2 out of hand, but any input about 3 and 4?
> 
> 
> * Dr Robert Marcus of King's College Hospital, London ** Graft versus
> Host Disease - a real killer *** That is within 1 year from GvHD or
> associated infections # Now we're heading for a cure.
> ## Not enough data, but it looks promising
> 
> 
> John (now in possession of Sgt Harper's 7-barrel volley gun)

That is *EXCELLENT* news!  Very pleased to hear this.

Jim



-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

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