Our church choir had put on a big Easter program in 2002, lots of practices and multiple performances. After the fact, several, including me, came down with an upper respiratory infection. All my friends got better, but I didn’t. Then I started having low energy to the point that I couldn’t do my daily workouts. Next came the appearance of big, ugly bruises on my legs. At that point, I thought I was anemic. When I called to get a doctor’s appointment, the only opening was with his nurse practitioner. I almost put off the appointment until I could see my doctor, but thank goodness I didn’t. I saw the nurse practitioner on Wednesday, April 17, and she ordered a complete blood workup on me. On Friday morning, April 19, I got a call from my doctor. He asked me to sit down and then proceeded to tell me I had acute myeloid leukemia (AML). By noon I was meeting with an oncologist, by 3:00 p.m., I was in the hospital for what became a three-week stay. (And, bless her heart, the nurse practitioner came to visit me in the hospital, as did my primary care doctor.) That Sunday they started chemo. That’s also the day I got literature about AML and found out that there was only a 25% survival rate. Needless to say, that was not a great day emotionally for me.
The first round of chemo got me into remission. I was then referred to the Baylor Bone Marrow Clinic in Dallas (now Baylor Scott & White). I met with my intake oncologist there in July, Dr. Brian Berryman. Waiting to find out what my next steps were was extremely stressful. I hoped that I did not need to have an allogeneic transplant as there were no good matches for me. I was relieved when I found out my subcategory of AML made me a candidate for an autologous transplant. After a battery of tests, I was admitted for a round of consolidation chemo. Then in September, I was admitted for total body radiation followed by the transplant. The transplant took place on Friday, September 13 (Friday the 13th, of course). I can’t say enough good things about the doctors and nurses at Baylor. They were some of the most caring people I’ve ever had the privilege to know. They, along with all of my friends who supported me through treatment, helped make a bad situation bearable. When I hit the five-year anniversary of my transplant, I celebrated with those friends with a party I called “Cinco de Cindy.” It was my way of thanking everyone for what they had done for me. Now 19 years later, I am happy to say I am still cancer-free.
Although I did not use any of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) resources during my treatment, I felt strongly that I needed to do something to help further research to find a cure for blood cancers. I did my first Light The Night Walk a little over a year after my transplant, walking with my friends from bunco. I’ve done several more walks since, the last one in honor of a friend who sadly did not survive her battle with AML. I also was involved with the Peer-to-Peer Support program for a time. When I retired and was looking for volunteer opportunities, the first place I looked was on the LLS website because I had gotten an email from them saying there were remote ways to volunteer. Having been a Communications Director for my church for many years, I was excited to see that the National Office needed someone to help edit stories submitted by blood cancer patients to feature on their website. I am happy to use my skills in a new way to help the work of LLS.
Cindy
LLS Volunteer
