Friday, April 24, 2015

Time flies when you're having cancer

A friend reminded me tonight that I had/have a blog. I actually started it January 2, 2013. My last post was in October 2013. I am not sure why I quit blogging. Maybe because everyone started blogging. Maybe because I could not make money from the comforts of my couch blogging. But, my friend posted one of my old blogs to her Facebook wall tonight. I read it, and I will humbly say I enjoyed it. If there has ever been a year to chronicle my life, 2014 should have been it. I thought 2012 sucked! We had no idea where things were headed...

If you look at my Facebook page for 2014, it looks a bit schizophrenic. From January to mid-May, it looks like one person's life, then it looks like another personality took over. The posts are different. Some of the people in the pictures are transformed into unfamiliar faces (that would be me). And, there are more pictures with a hospital for a backdrop than an episode of, "ER." So, let me begin.

May 9th, 2014, a lovely Friday evening, and I was meeting up with a group of people from high school. We were having a pre-class reunion, "meeting," since our 25th reunion was that summer. We had drinks, got reacquainted with those we had not seen for years, and had a nice time. We said our good-byes, and planned to meet up again before the reunion. That was one of the last normal days in my life. I woke up the next day, and had this sore in my mouth. It hurt like hell, and I could not figure out where it came from. Every day from that day on, something new happened. I would feel like I was getting a cold. I was feeling more fatigued every day. I would find bruises on my arms and legs and have no idea where they were coming from.  Horrible sinus congestion and drainage, body aches, and then the low grade fever started. By Wednesday, I was in bed battling some virus. I went to a Minute Clinic on Saturday. They started me on an antibiotic and told me to call my doctor on Monday if I did not feel better. My best friend called Monday. "You need to go to the ER." I said, "I've already talked to my doc. They are going to see me at the end of the day." She was not happy I was waiting. Two minutes later, my husband comes into the room and says, "We need to take you to the ER." I looked at him and said, "BFF just called you to take me to the ER, didn't she?" He said yes. I insisted I shower first (it had been five days), so my husband stood at the bathroom door to make sure I did not fall. If he had not been there, I would have collapsed.

A trip to Community South's ER turned out much differently than I expected. We checked in and were quickly brought to triage (not a lot of action in the ER on a Monday at 1:00 pm). Then you see the first concerned, confused, twisted-up face of the day as they are looking at your vitals. I had a CT scan, peed in a few cups, and lots of blood taken. A nurse finally comes in and says my blood counts are very abnormal.  She read me the results, and we just stared at each other. That, "I know that you know that I know these are really bad results," look. She said the doctor would be right in.  My husband asks, "Do they think you have an infection in your blood?" I just looked at him and said, "No, they think I have leukemia." They were correct. The oncologist said I had acute myeloid leukemia. No biopsy required; the abnormal cells were clearly seen on the microscope. I was instructed to go home, eat dinner, and pack a bag. The cancer floor at another local hospital would have my room ready tonight, and I would be gone about a month.

I'm going to stop at this point because there is a lot more to say. However, if you have read any of my other blog posts, you will recognize my reference to a very large thing that picks you up, spins you around, and drops you on your face. I guess it happens more than once.