Wow, a lot of stuff happened pretty quickly. I'm kind of loopy at the moment thanks to some Benadryl, but I'm going to try to write a quick post to summarize the past few days.
Thursday I came in to the UMGCC for a regular checkup to make sure my blood was responding correctly to the Gleevec. It turns out that it wasn't. The doctor noticed that my white blood cells were more numerous than they should have been, and a few tests later revealed that my CML has advanced to ALL -- hence the title of this post. Carmichael was a lot more fun than Allistair, because it sounded so very treatable and everything. Allistair, on the other hand, is going to require some serious chemo, followed by a bone marrow transplant.
The next day I was admitted to the hopsital, which is where I am now and where I'll be for the next four weeks. That means that I'll be missing Christmas, New Years, and of course Sigcomm. As much as I enjoy all three of those events each year, I understand that my health is more important so I don't mind getting that in order instead.
My mom is taking it very hard, probably harder than I am. Every once in a while I have some pretty sad thoughts, but I find that if I try to put myself in Buffy's shoes, I feel stronger and more confident that I have the wherewithal to see this through. The one line of thought that really gets to me is when I start thinking about Ted, and how I wish that I had had the chance to marry him, and that I worry so much about how hard he might take it if I were to die. But Ted is strong too, and I know he'll make it even if things don't work out. That being said, I'm Buffy, so I'm going to fight tooth and nail to make it through this safely. One advantage I have now is that this is a more permanent solution; if this treatment plan works, I could be cured, and that would be a nice feeling. It's going to take some time to get there, but it will be worth it.
Currently, I've just started on the serious chemo. This particular bit of chemo is kind of tricky in that it apparently is more likely to cause an allergic reaction than many other kinds. I seem to be doing well, but as a precaution they gave me a shot of Benadryl which made me really loopy for a while. I'm coming out of it now, though, and the initial treatment seems to be working, so I think that I'l be able to do just fine with this stuff.
Other than that, there's not much to say at this point. They added something called a "pick line", which is basically like a semi-permanent IV that they can use to give me IV drugs and to draw blood without sticking me each time.
Installing the thing was quite the experience. The nurse used an ultrasound machine to find one of the central veins in my arm. After poking around in one spot for a little while, she tried a different spot and then had no trouble. In the original spot, I had a hematoma, but that seems to have disappeared and now things are getting back to normal. This line actually consists of a 41 inch catheter that deposits the IV fluids very near the heart; it goes in my arm and feeds all the way in to my chest. It's pretty weird, but pretty cool, too!
Anyway, food is here. Wish me luck on the rest of my stay here in UMGCC. I'm in room 51 on floor 9, if anyone wants to stop by to visit!
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