Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)

I was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) on January 24, 2019. I hadn’t been feeling well for a while. I was having very odd symptoms. For example, I was having joint pains, I kept hearing this whooshing noise, my gums were bleeding, and the biggest symptom was I would get out of breath so easily. Walking up the steps of my apartment building felt like running a marathon.

In November 2016 I was tired. TIRED. I had a 20-month-old and a 4-year-old, had just come off the busiest month of the year for work, and I figured I was tired for no other reason. But then tired became not having the energy to take care of my 20-month-old. Tired became going to be my best friend's wedding and needing to lay down in between steps. Shower, lay down. Makeup, lay down.

My name is Lillian and I'm 43 years old I have a Alp leukemia. I went into the hospital on July23rd and didn't come out of it until August 2nd then I realize I was being transported and all I could remember was a yellow heart hanging and I was just out of it the whole time.

I had acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) in 2013. I went in to have surgery to remove all four of my wisdom teeth and never stopped bleeding after surgery. The doctor called those miracle teeth instead of wisdom teeth because that is how we found out I had leukemia and they saved my life.

In 1990, I was diagnosed with M3 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) - now known as acute promyelocytic cancer (APL) - when I was a twenty-year-old college student studying abroad in Northern England.

This story is memory of my late fiancé, Jonathan Bentley, who passed away from acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) at the age of 33 after a week-long battle. Jon was a truly amazing person; the type that you wish everyone could meet once in their lifetime. Although he is now gone, I wish to honor his beautiful spirit by sharing a little bit about him.

In March 2014, I woke up at my normal time to get ready for work. I could barely move - I was so ill and every part of my body hurt. I didn't’t think anything of being sick since I had started to feel ill on Sunday and it was just getting worse. I figured that I would stay home sick and be back to work the next day.