Today is another blood day. yay! This round of chemo is puffing me up. Im up 10 pounds from just yesterday, and 15 pounds from last Thursday. I have managed to eat well, no nausea yet. I no longer look like a rock star with a shaved head. Now I'm chubby bloated cheek girl with a shaved head. I'm sure my weight will drop again in a week. What a crazy thing a little poison chemo will do to a person's body. I don't care so much about the weight fluctuation, as long as it does what it is supposed to do.
My friend, the writer, Amy asked what it means to have 90% blasts. I don't really know the details, even though I've read them a few times. Basically it means that the bad blood cells (leukemic blasts) are crowding out my good blood. We want the bad blood in remission. If I have 90% mutated bad blood in my bone marrow, that means it is not in remission. From the beginning, we hoped this would not be an aggressive Leukemia. It is. We hoped that the first round of chemo would be enough for a while, and it isn't. This Leukemia is aggressive and complicated, which is why I need a stem cell transplant. If they could fight it successfully with chemotherapy alone, they would. They cant. Luckily I have 5 willing siblings who are potential stem cell genetic matches... and luckily this is a highly curable cancer. The rest of my body organs are good... They just need to fix my blood.
Go to this link from >> WebMD.
I tried to copy and paste the information to the blog, but no matter what color or text/background I use, it is not showing up. I will keep messing around with it, but in the meantime, just check out the actual site.
General Information About Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes abnormal myeloblasts (a type of white blood cell), red blood cells, or platelets.
Adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. This type of cancer usually gets worse quickly if it is not treated. It is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults. AML is also called acute myelogenous leukemia, acute myeloblastic leukemia, acute granulocytic leukemia, and acute nonlymphocytic leukemia.
Normally, the bone marrow makes blood stem cells (immature cells) that develop into mature blood cells over time. A blood stem cell may become a myeloid stem cell or a lymphoid stem cell. The lymphoid stem cell develops into a white blood cell. The myeloid stem cell develops into one of three types of mature blood cells:
- Red blood cells that carry oxygen and other materials to all tissues of the body.
- White blood cells that fight infection and disease.
- Platelets that help prevent bleeding by causing blood clots to form.
Blood cell development. A blood stem cell goes through several steps to become a red blood cell, platelet, or white blood cell.
In AML, the myeloid stem cells usually develop into a type of immature white blood cell called myeloblasts (or myeloidblasts). The myeloblasts in AML are abnormal and do not become healthy white blood cells. Sometimes in AML, too many stem cells develop into abnormal red blood cells or platelets. These abnormal white blood cells, red blood cells, or platelets are also called leukemia cells or blasts. Leukemia cells can build up in the bone marrow and blood so there is less room for healthy white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. When this happens, infection, anemia, or easy bleeding may occur. The leukemia cells can spread outside the blood to other parts of the body, including the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), skin, and gums.
This summary is about adult AML. See the following PDQ summaries for information about other types of leukemia:
That's very interesting. Thank you for explaining. Do they have any way of knowing how long you have had those blasts in your blood, or when it might have started? Like, do they know how long you might have already had leukemia before you got your first blood test? Also, I'm sure you already know this, but, did you know hospitals have chaplains that go from room to room on a daily basis to pray with patients? At least there are hospitals in ut that have that (not religion specific or anything). I went along with a chaplain in the va hospital once, and it was nice.
ReplyDeleteTHey cant tell me how long I've had Leukemia... and it's hard to say where being a new mom tired became having Leukemia tired. I thought I had enough energy when little N was 6 months to join the gym... Since we moved that month as well I didn't go to the gym very often... but I did manage to pack, move and clean our house, mostly by myself. So I think it was after that. Perhaps in JUne, but for sure by July. After our vacation I started noticing bruising. SO, by then it was in my blood... or at least after our vacation my platelets were low. I can't judge based on energy... because I've been tired since I got pregnant. I don't know if there is any truth to this, but I've heard it can lay dormant in the marrow... so who knows? Who knows? Docs have told me that I could have gotten a blood test the week before and they wouldn't have detected Leukemia.
ReplyDeleteThey have told me that there is a chaplain here. I probably should have him/her come by. People from church come all of the time, but people don't usually pray with me... and I don't think to ask them. It would probably be nice to be reminded to use this time wisely. Love you Amy.
Do you have to stay in the hospital until you are in remission? When you are getting your chemotherapy is it a 24-7 operation? Or just a couple hours a day? I look forward to your post-leukemia post on what you learned from this experience. What I've already learned from this is to listen to your body. I can't tell you how many times I just ignore the messages my body sends me. I get right on it when Mark or one of the kids aren't feeling well, but when it's me I just ignore it. So glad you took your symptoms seriously.
ReplyDeleteYOu know Casey, It just seems like there is so much up in the air. I think once the Leukemia is in remission and my counts are up, I get to go home. What exactly it means when my counts are up, I don't know. Bad leukemia blasts are down and I have enough of an immune system to be trusted outside of my hospital room. I never listen to my body. I complain for sure about feeling tired, but I usually keep going... because that is what a mom does, right? The only reason I got a blood test just 2.5 weeks ago is I thought I was either anemic or that my thyroid was slow... and probably the only reason I cared about those that is I thought I wanted to get pregnant again at the end of this year... SO really... I did it for baby #2... to have a healthy foundation before I ran off and got pregnant again. Im not sad about not having a baby next year. Im ok with this card I have been dealt... For now anyway.
ReplyDeleteWe just met a mother in the hall whose son has been in the hospital continuously for almost 9 months. SO... I don't know what to think. I hope I can go home in two weeks, until I need another chemo round. Oh, and it is 24 hours a day. The first round was 7 days... and think from now on I get 5 day rounds. So far I have done ok with this round. I realize there are many people on this floor much sicker than me. It scares me, because that could be my future... but it is hard to believe right now. It is hard to know what the future holds. I hope I will maintain my dignity and optimism... but there is no way of really knowing how I will be if it really starts to drag on and suck.