Blood Cancer Journey
If you are reading this while facing your own diagnosis, know this: you are not alone.
This is my blood cancer journey, written as it happened and later edited for clarity.
It begins with unexplained fatigue and an unexpected diagnosis. It moves through chemotherapy, transplant, complications, and the long process of rebuilding.
Six years later, it ends with perspective and gratitude.
Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Visual description
A stained bone marrow smear showing large purple-pink leukemic blast cells crowded together, one containing a visible Auer rod, a diagnostic feature of this leukemia subtype. Smaller, pale red blood cells are scattered across the lighter background below.
Chronicles
popcornthad@terminal:blood-cancer-journey$ gopher -p "1/chronicles" localhost
Blood Disease, What? Me?!?
The beginning of my blood cancer journey, from unexplained fatigue to an unexpected leukemia diagnosis. May 16, 2012 5:00 pm [02]Induction Chemotherapy
My first round of induction chemotherapy, thirty days in the hospital, and learning what it truly means to fight leukemia. June 27, 2012 6:00 pm [03]Consolidation Chemotherapy
High-dose consolidation chemotherapy, unexpected complications, more biopsies, and preparing for a bone marrow transplant. August 14, 2012 8:30 pm [04]High Dose Myeloablative Chemotherapy & Bone Marrow Transplant
High-dose conditioning chemotherapy, transplant day, severe complications, and the fight to survive my bone marrow stem cell transplant. September 28, 2012 3:45 pm [05]Acute Graft versus Host Disease
Severe acute graft-versus-host disease, immunosuppressive treatment, infections, and the fragile months after transplant. November 21, 2012 8:00 am [06]Recovering and Moving On
Life after transplant — rebuilding strength, facing setbacks, returning to work and wrestling, and learning how recovery is not a straight line. January 14, 2014 4:30 pm [07]Five Years Later
Five years after my bone marrow transplant — living with uncertainty, redefining priorities, and learning what truly matters. August 22, 2017 9:00 amInformation About My Blood Cancer
Background information about MDS, AML, my treatment center, and a preserved 2012 support message.
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Wikipedia
- Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS)
- Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
- Graft Verus Host Diease (GVHD)
- Bone Marrow
- Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant
About My Hospital (Johns Hopkins Hospital)
Related Information
- National Cancer Institute – Comprehensive Cancer Information
- Blood Cancer United (formerly The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society)
- National Marrow Donor Program (formerly Be The Match)
- American Red Cross – Give Blood
How Can You Help Me and My Family?
(Written December 2012)
My journey with a bone marrow transplant has been both amazing and very rough. I am not out of the woods yet.
While I am fortunate to have health insurance covering much of my treatment, many financial obligations go beyond what insurance provides. These include — but are not limited to — travel to and from the hospital, inpatient and outpatient treatments, prescriptions, co-pays, physician bills, hospital bills, and ongoing living expenses that I cannot fully cover while undergoing treatment and recovery.
The goal of this fund was to help offset these costly expenses so that I could focus on fighting for my life and getting better.
As many of you know, I am fiercely independent. I would prefer to handle everything on my own. Unfortunately, that simply wasn’t possible at that time. Any contribution — no matter the amount — was deeply appreciated and helped more than I could express.