In late October/early November 2024, I’d come home from school, instantly falling asleep the second I lay on the couch. My parents thought I was just tired from practice or using my phone late at night. I had finished marching band season, and we all thought all of the fatigue would end. My parents left for a vacation, dropping me off at my cousin's house. We didn't know it would get interrupted in the worst way possible. I had gotten an infection that progressively got worse — bruising, night-sweats, never-ending fever, coughing, and unbearable headaches. Urgent care said it was walking pneumonia, but the emergency room had different results.
On November 18, I was transferred to another hospital for more tests. On November 20, it was official. I had stage 2 acute myeloid leukemia (AML). My parents arrived a day earlier from their vacation. When they got to the hospital ICU, they signed consents and immediately started chemotherapy.
It took three sessions that lasted eight to 10 days with a couple of weeks of recovery to prepare for transplant. I reached remission after my second session. I was given the blessing of going home for a week before being readmitted for my transplant. I had time to hang out with friends, eat home-cooked meals, and mentally prepare myself for the most stressful and excruciating time of my life.
On March 11, 2025, I was readmitted. From then on, I was in isolation, with no restaurant meals. On March 18, I received my stem cells. From there everything collapsed. Severe nausea, level 10 stomach aches, Ng tube feeds, weight loss, appetite loss, taste buds died out. I lost hope almost entirely, thinking there was no end. I had a team of psychiatrists visit me, mood medications, and yet still felt hopeless. Eventually, I started reaching small milestones that sparked hope in me. Ng tube fell out, slowly getting off medications, given permission to walk out of my room, my daily shots were done, discharge was being talked about. Eventually my bone marrow and blood were confirmed to be 100% donor. New blood type and blood DNA. I was basically reborn.
On April 25, I was officially discharged. As of now, I’ve completed my 100 days post-transplant and get monitored weekly at the hospital's clinic. I realized how much we take our health and well-being for granted. You could have everything in the world, but once you have a health problem, you have nothing. We need to realize how fortunate we are to be able to breathe without an oxygen tank, be around someone with a cold, and even something as silly as being able to walk to a fridge and get a snack. The road to recovery and restarting my life has been a smooth ride for me. I thank all my healthcare providers, from the nursing assistants to my surgeons, and everyone in between.
Genesis
acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
