How does one begin to tell the story of the time their child was diagnosed with cancer? People usually call leukemia – leukemia. They say it like it is a disease unto itself, but it is cancer. It is a cancer of the blood.
Compassion & Empathy
Happy Sunday! Today I want to follow up on last weeks post about spreading a positive message and being kind. Because October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month and due to an incident on Twitter, I thought we should talk about compassion and empathy.
Blessed & Giving Back: The End of leukemia
But when I saw kids with brain tumors and babies who were sick, I became grateful that my child only had leukemia. My perspective changed and I felt blessed, his fight was not as difficult.
Blood Counts: Joey & leukemia Part 7
We ended up with a long delay after the horrible ordeal in the hospital. We had to go to the clinic every few days, but Joey’s blood counts were low, and he wasn’t able to start the next phase for 15 days. The next stage had four spinal infusions within two weeks with all the other steroids and chemos.
Chemo/Side Effects: Joey & leukemia, Part 5
So there we were – heart problems seemed to have subsided, but then we had new issues to face. Joey’s arms and legs were starting to quiver, and he was experiencing diarrhea again. The body shakes were a side effect from a chemo.
Side Effects/Chemo: Joey & leukemia, Part 6
Joey is admitted back into the hospital to start the next phase. This particular phase is an extremely high dose of methotrexate. It was given slowly into the spine over 30 minutes, and then given in the vein over the course of many hours. The side effects would be horrific mouth sores and vomiting.
My Heart: Joey & leukemia, Part 4
I no longer had Freddy to get me coffee, and that was a problem. No more husband to hold my hand and be my punching bag. There isn’t much sleeping going on, and I just needed that cup of caffeine first thing in the morning.
Room With A View: Joey & leukemia Part 3
leukemia isn’t like a lot of cancers. A victim usually goes into remission after five weeks of getting beaten with chemotherapy on an almost daily basis. His particular leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), has an excellent prognosis, but all leukemias have a high risk of coming back.