It's on to Course 5, Maintenance Therapy! 

On December 24th, we received the results from Johanna's bone marrow biopsy. The regular biopsy report showed MRD negative, meaning that no disease was detected in the sample - Great news! 

However, they also detected a small percentage of immature cells called "blasts" which could mean the treatments so far may have not have been completely effective. The specific "blasts" were sent OHSU for further genetic testing. A Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) test was performed to look for chromosome changes in the cells. They tested a total of 30 cells (isn't science crazy?) and compared them to the initial cancer cells from April. The new cells did NOT show the previous genetic mutation ( a deletion of chromosome 9)! Whew, more great news! 

Johanna will begin Maintenance therapy in about a week. Due to the fact there was such a small sample of cells tested, they will schedule a follow up bone marrow biopsy in about 2 months just to make sure. But for now, it's onward to Course 5! Best Christmas present ever!