Induction complete – much more to come

Yesterday was the official end of induction, the first phase of treatment. Induction is explained as:

The goal of induction chemo is to get the leukemia into remission (complete remission). This means that leukemia cells are no longer found in bone marrow samples (on a bone marrow biopsy), the normal marrow cells return, and the blood counts return to normal levels. But a remission is not necessarily a cure, as leukemia cells may still be hiding somewhere in the body.

At the end of this first month’s treatment we expect to see as close to a 100% reduction of leukemia cells in his marrow as possible – remission – so that we can begin the next phase. On Tuesday we’ll meet with the doctors to review his numbers and hear from them what his next few months look like. While induction is critical, it’s also relatively mild compared to what comes next – through the end of the year and early 2019, Wes will be given more frequent, and more intense, chemo in order to deliver the knockout blow to whatever leukemia cells are still lurking in order to prevent relapse, a recurrence of the cancer – but Tuesday will be a crucial marker for how well he’s responding.