Friday, September 25, 2009

Introduction

My name is Randy and I was recently diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). Like, really recently. As in three weeks ago. As it turns out, modern medicine is well-equipped to deal with what was not-too-long ago considered a deadly form of cancer. I took my initial diagnosis pretty hard, since I just heard "leukemia" and immediately thought, "I'm probably going to die... sooner rather than later." Thankfully, my prognosis is actually not bad at all, and with the help of my little friend (a 400mg daily dose of Gleevec) I will continue to live a long life supposedly fraught with a few side effects here and there.

I admit, despite my boundless optimism and sunny disposition, I sometimes idly have dark and depressing thoughts (though you might not know it if you weren't reading this blog). However, I've decided to focus on positive thoughts. This blog will most likely blend the good and the bad, but for the most part I expect to just deal with the bad and focus on the good things that have come of being diagnosed with CML.

I think most of my friends and family (and even strangers) have actually taken my diagnosis harder than I have; hopefully I'll get to that at some point. :) But my really close friends, the ones who understand me the most, really understand my attitude and are definitely with me on taking CML in stride and having fun with it. To that end, we've even given CML an affectionate name: Carmichael. I like to think of Carmichael as a friend who will never leave me. Even if the doctors kill him, his memory will live on in me, and that means something... I guess. :)

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