Well, today was the day. We received some good news and some not so good news.

The good news: Marcia will not need to have chemo. Taking medication for the next five years will provide results very close to those yielded from a course of chemo. Obviously, taking the medication is our choice. There are a few side effects but it sounds like there is nothing we can't deal with.

The not so good news: Dr. Linenberger, at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, saw Bill today. He affirmed the preliminary diagnosis from the Mayo Clinic; dendritic cell malignancy. This is a very rare cancer with just a few cases to refer to for guidance. Dr. Linenberger and his colleagues have not seen a case previously. He did an additional bone marrow biopsy in each hip today. The purpose was to reaffirm the diagnosis and to gain more tissue to further refine the diagnosis for the purpose of identifying the appropriate drug(s) for chemotherapy. We will see him again on Monday or Tuesday to get those results.

In any case, the first step in treatment is likely to be immediate and aggressive chemotherapy. The treatment would require Bill to be in the hospital for 2-3 weeks; 1 week with the chemo. and several more to recover sufficiently to come home. The goal is to minimize the number of cancer cells but it is unlikely to be a cure. This would also allow time for a stem cell donor to be identified with a stem cell transplant being the best shot at a "cure".

Obviously, this wasn't what we'd hoped for but we are strong, have each other, have loving and supportive families and we'll deal with whatever comes. The other thing we know that will help us to meet this challenge is you, our caring friends whose support means everything to us.