Remedial Math

I'm afraid I need to correct my earlier calculation of how much leukemia my most recent biopsy turned up. I had said that one test found 1% XY chromosomes, and another test had found 2% leukemia. Those were the test results, but my assumption that it was 2% of the 1% (which would be .02%) was incorrect.

The real story is that one test counted 3 cells with XY chromosomes out of 400 counted, which rounded up to 1%. The other test counted 6 cells (also out of 400) with the deletion-7 genetic marker that my leukemia cells have been helpful enough to wear. So that's 1.5%, rounded up to 2%. If they counted another 400, they might find 5, or 3, or 7. It means that, at the time of my biopsy, there were a few of my own cells still in the mix, and they appear to be all leukemic.

The corrected calculation doesn't change anything. I had more leukemia left than I thought, but it's still a small amount and not out of the ordinary. The rest of my blood counts are solid, indicating that what leukemia is still there isn't causing any trouble. "It's nothing to lose sleep over," says my doctor. Of course, leukemia has a way of getting out of hand, so it's also nothing to ignore.

Another biopsy this Friday will tell us whether going off of the immunosuppressant medication has had the desired effect of routing the remaining XY cells, and with them the remaining leukemia. If not, there are other treatments to try.

I assume the current treatment will do the job, even though I know it's not guaranteed. There's no benefit to fretting about what might go wrong, if you can't do anything about it. People who dwell on possible future suffering suffer more than they need to — guaranteed anguish before anything happens, and then again if it does happen. Once is enough, if it comes to that.

I also believe it's medically harmful to worry about all the things that could go wrong, and medically helpful to believe in your treatment. Hope is good medicine. It won't beat leukemia on its own, but it helps.