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Rob Glatts' Journey to a Cure 
Welcome to my Caringbridge Web Page. It has
been provided to keep our family and friends
updated on my progress as I conquer
Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML).
For those of you unfamiliar with my story, I was diagnosed with CML on May 21, 2002. I had been feeling extremely tired for months, but blamed it on our busy lifestyle and young children. It was not until I began running a fever and developed a cough that I finally saw a doctor. After several misdiagnoses, I was diagnosed with CML and admitted to the hospital with a white blood cell count of nearly 400,000.
Kelly and I were encouraged to hear that the vast majority of CML patients respond well to outpatient treatment with a medication called Gleevec. I did not respond to the standard dose of 400 mg, but did achieve a very good response on the maximum dose of 800 mg, even reaching complete cytogenetic remission in February, 2003. Unfortunately, another bone marrow biopsy in June, 2003 showed significant relapse. Further testing showed I have a common mutation in the cells called T315I which is completely resistant to Gleevec, even at higher doses.
I am fortunate enough to have a 10/10 match and an excellent doctor. It has been a tough year, and I have every hope that this next step will be a cure.
We are profoundly grateful for your support, thoughts and prayers. Thanks for being here for us!
Journal
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 4:55 PM CDT Remember us? We do remember all of you and apologize for a llooong time between updates. We have had so much going on the last two years, most of them good things.
September 23, 2008 is Rob's five-year transplant anniversary! I am delighted to say that he remains leukemia-free and that his energy, etc. continues to improve in tiny baby steps. He is still on immunosuppressants to control his GVHD. We remain ever hopeful that he will eventually be off all meds, but it will be a while.
The kids are great. Riley, now 10, started 5th grade. He recently donated almost 11 inches of hair to Locks of Love (he grew it for over 8 months so that he could share his beautiful hair with a child undergoing treatment for cancer). Sean is now 8 and in 3rd grade and Robbie just started kindergarten, can you believe it?! Rob works full time at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
I don't know how often we'll update this site. We have become so involved in LIFE again that we don't keep up as well as we should. But we do check in on many of you and are forever grateful for your support and friendship.
P.S. Check out the photo section for new pics.
Love and hope,
Kelly and Rob
Read Journal History
Hospital Information: Patient Room: TBA UCSD Thornton Hospital
9300 Campus Point Drive
La Jolla CA 92037
(858) 657-7000
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