The good news: a bone marrow biopsy wasn’t as bad as I imagined.

What hurt the most was numbing with Xylocaine which burned like crazy and sucking the bone marrow out which felt like I had a charley horse in my buttock.

The bad news, the doctor said:

One possible treatment is Gleevec. However, I saw this quote on the American Cancer Society web page

…the cost of treating a patient with Gleevec is estimated at $25,000 per year. Should a young patient continue to take this drug throughout his or her lifetime, it would be very expensive compared to other therapies currently available.

There’s always the chance that it’s all a mistake.

My sister told me not to worry about it, since we won’t really know until the lab analysis comes back. My next appointment is on New Year’s Eve. I don’t know how I’m supposed to keep from worrying, unless I’m completely drugged.

This could get a lot worse.