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On Monday, February 20th Peter got a small cut on his hand which developed into an angry wound by the next morning. When prescribed antibiotics did not reduce the extreme swelling by Thursday, he was sent to the Emergency Room at  Maine Medical Center. Blood tests showed that his platelet count was down to 6000 [a normal person has 150000] and that his white blood cells were dangerously low.
He was checked into the hospital immediately.

The most important task at hand was to clear up the infection. He was put on an antibiotic drip. He was brought to a pressurized room in Gibson, the cancer ward, because of his severely impaired immune system. On the way to the room he had to wear a mask. Two days before he had played tennis and won.  In one instant our lives changed.

Peter is in the care of Dr. Marjorie A. Boyd, a respected hematologist who diagnosed Peter with AML...Acute Myeloid Leukemia.... that evening. On Friday morning she did a bone marrow biopsy and by the evening pathology confirmed that Peter has AML somewhere between M1 and M2. Samples where sent to the Mayo Clinic and Dana Farber in Boston for genetic testing. We were told that Peter is a very unusual case. Although 77 years old he is extremely fit and healthy. The echocardiogram showed he has the heart of a 20 year old and would be strong enough to undergo treatments that people in his age group would normally be challenged by.

On Tuesday, March 6th Peter was readmitted into Maine Medical Center for 3 to 4 weeks of chemo therapy with the goal of bringing the cancer into remission.

Please check posts on the Home Page for updates on Peter's progress.