Excerpt From Leukemia One Woman's Battle For Survival

Excerpt From Leukemia One Woman's Battle For Survival

January 21, 2004---I was having a some very bad health problems.  I had a bad night with my heart pounding all night.  I had been really tired and my son talked me into going to see my doctor.

January 22, 2004---Went to see my doctor; my heart was pounding and my pulse was very high.  The doctor insisted on doing a complete blood work; I told him I didn’t need it, but he insisted.

January 23, 2004--- my doctor calls me saying that my blood counts are way to high.

He has made an appointment with a hematologist, and he wants me to go right away.

I ask him if I can wait and he says NO!  My son insists I go also, so off I go.

I do not think anything is wrong with me; I have never had anything major as far as illness goes, and all the women in my family are long lived.

January 23, 24---My son and his girlfriend take me to the hematologist, and I was called into his office.

As I go in alone, the doctor looks at me and says, “ You sure are brave coming here alone.”  I should have suspected something right then but no, I still had no fears and told the doctor my son and his girlfriend are waiting for me in the waiting room.

He has his blood nurse take a sample of my blood; I gave it up freely, not knowing this was the first of hundreds of blood test on down the line.  Sure enough, he came back in and told me my counts were way to high and that he needed to do a Bone Marrow Aspiration.  Silly me, I didn’t have a clue as to what he was talking about and was led unknowingly into a room with a doctor’s bed and ask to take off my clothes and lie down face first.  Still not expecting anything to dramatic, (I figured out later that the reason they make you lay face down right away is so you can’t see the huge needle they are going to use to get that bone marrow) I waited while the nurse and doctor got everything ready to give me my first of many test to come.