So, in general, I’m trying not to eat junk*, but after Dad’s appointment with the oncologist today, I decided a celebration was in order and I picked up a dozen sugar bombs from the best donut shop on the planet: Donut Drive-In. (If you’re from St. Louis and you’re about to argue with me about World’s Fair, that means you probably haven’t actually tried Donut Drive-In, so shhhhhh.)

ANYWAY: Why the justification of ridiculously bad-for-you food? Oh, no big deal: Just that Dad’s in remission. Yep, you read me right. The results of his Day+30 bone marrow biopsy and the even-more-conclusive Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) test show zero evidence of remaining cancer cells. 

Take that leukemia!

Now, he still has the GVHD to deal with, but the prednisone seems to have that under control, and he definitely looks better. All blood counts are slowly going in the right direction (which is the preferred speed), and his kidneys are happy again. It seems if we can just keep that dang Tacrolimus level under control, it’ll be relatively smooth sailing from here on out. Even his taste buds are cooperating a tiny little bit more than they were a week ago.

So, yet again, thank you for the prayers, good vibes, kind thoughts, and well wishes. Dad’s felt them all, and you should absolutely celebrate with us. With a donut.

*I always feel the need to clarify that in Kelley’s Food Pyramid, ice cream does not count as junk. So if we bump into one another at Cold Stone, DQ, Sonic, Baskin Robbins, Clementine’s, Ice’s Plain and Fancy, Serendipity, or any other purveyor of the world’s most perfect food, don’t bother with the lectures.