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Showing posts from March, 2025

First dose of Hydroxyurea (chemo pill)

 About an hour after taking my first dose of Hydroxyurea I felt as if I had swallowed a ball of fire! My stomach was burning so bad, and I started to vomit. So I thought if I ate crackers slowly that it might help soak up what I felt was acid in my stomach and sooth my stomach some. I was able to keep the crackers down. At the time we didn't have a blowup mattress in the tent, so I was laying in a lawn chair that reclined back and the feet raised up. So I laid down in the lawn chair and tried to fall asleep, hoping that if I slept that I might be able to sleep through the rough part of my body adjusting to the medicine.  We didn't have a toilet in the tent, and all though my son had a toilet in the house I didn't want to keep bothering them to go inside to use the bathroom and to be honest I didn't think that I would make it. I feel that I need to point out that my son would have allowed us to stay in the house with him and his family! But I didn't want to. They had...

The Morning After My Diagnosis

 When I woke up the next morning to get ready for work, I felt as if someone had beat me up! I hadn't gotten much sleep, and I was struggling not only with the diagnosis, but also the realization of how I was going to tell my family. Will I be able to keep working? I haven't made my funeral arrangements yet, I don't even have the financial means to make my funeral arrangements. So many thoughts were running through my mind! The oncologist office called me while I was driving into work. They let me know that they were able to get the approval from my insurance for the first TKI (chemo pill), and confirmed which pharmacy I wanted it to be sent to. I was told about potential side effects, and specific things to watch for that would warrant me needing to go to the emergency room. The medication was called Hydroxyurea. I was told that this medication was very strong, and it is commonly used as the first line of treatment for CML (Chronice Myeloid Leukemia) patients. The reason t...

June 1st 2018 the day that will change my life forever

I'm sitting in the oncology doctors office waiting to receive the test results from the blood work and bone marrow biopsy, that I had done the day prior. I had been referred to see an oncologist by my primary doctor after my health showed no improvement with his treatment regimen and my blood work had came back showing my white blood count was over 40k range, normal is 5k to 10k.  The referral was due to me having severe pain in my legs while training for my 5th half marathon, and what appeared to be an ongoing sinus infection. My doctor thought that my symptoms with my legs was just me over doing my training while having a cold or sinus infection. So he put me on an antibiotic, and asked me to put my running on hold temporarily. I started the antibiotic and rested as much as I was able while working a full time job and caring for 5 of my grandchildren. After finishing off the antibiotics I wasn't feeling any better. So I made another appointment to see my doctor. He said that ...

Introducing myself

 This is all new to me, and I'm learning how it works as I go. I have had so many things happen throughout my life, that I've been told by multiple people, including my counselor that I should write a book. Little did they know that I have been trying to collect my thoughts well enough to do so for several years. I journal daily, as I have found that it helps me to get my feelings out of my mind and onto paper. Writing my feelings, stressors, and frustrations in my life down, somehow helps me feel that I am in control of them. That may seem odd to some. But when you are constantly surrounded by stressful situations, all while battling serious health issues, you have to figure out a way to function despite all of it.  So while I'm working to finish my book, I thought I would start a blog. The purpose of my blog is not only to help me try to make sense of some of the things that I have been through, but perhaps it may be helpful to others that may be experiencing similar stru...