Christmas Eve; Looking Good

I feel great, I've got the immune system.  I'll avoid sharp stuff ('cept a wrapping paper cut) just in case my platelets are low.

On the 20th, I did, indeed get news that the PET showed no detectable cancer and that I'd been cleared for the next phase, conditional on a bunch of "is he healthy enough" tests:

20 Dec (Wed) go/no-go on transplant (2pm) (was a go, so...

20 Dec (Wed) while in with the Doc, they took and EKG (that's Heart Test #1)

20 Dec (Wed) before leaving they took a lung x-ray (that's Lung Test #1)

and somwhere in there they also did a blood serum test to ensure that I'm negative for things like HIV and Hepatitis and other potential "latent" diseases that they don't want flaring up when my immune system is low

26 Dec (Tue) Dental cleaning, polishing, exam, & final sign off (confirm no dental complications) (1pm- 4pm)

28 Dec (Thu) 8:45am Bone Marrow sample (confirm no "extractable" cancer) (to confirm the PET)

28 Dec (Thu) 12:45am Echo CDAC (confirm no heart complications) (to confirm the EKG)
28 Dec (Thu) 02:00pm Pulmonary Function Test (confirm no lung complications) (to confirm the X-ray)

The doctor also said she wants me to think about the next phase as: "BEAM Chemotherapy with Stem Cell Resuce".  That is, that the real treatment of the next phase is the BEAM (to clean out any hidden lymph cancer), and that the stem cell part is there to rescue me from what would otherwise be the "dose-limiting side effects"   So the BEAM is the treatment and the stem cells rescue me from its side effects.