When I received the diagnosis in December 2015, that I had Acute Myeloid Leukemia, it was quite a surprise. I had a series of seemingly minor ailments during the summer and fall of 2015. I also felt tired much of the time, but I had no reason to think “cancer”, since I had no direct family history. Leading up to the diagnosis, I saw several different doctors to treat my ailments, but it took one doctor to run the right blood test to determine what was wrong. I was immediately admitted to Henry Ford hospital, right before Christmas. My treatment plan included three rounds of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. I spent a total of 66 days in the hospital and 15 months away from work.
Today, I am CANCER FREE. Every day I open my eyes, I celebrate how I have been given a new perspective on life and family. I feel blessed that I will be able to spend future Christmases with my family. My hope is that by sharing my story, it might help others who have family or friends who were diagnosed, or help someone who received the news themself. Here is my story.
December 16, 2015 marks the start of the next chapter of…
I checked in to Henry Ford Hospital on December 17th.…
On Saturday, December 19th the doctors started my chemotherapy. It…
FACEBOOK – Thanks again for your continued prayers and support.…
Because I wasn’t eating much, I had been drinking Ensure.…
I was able to get untethered from my IV pole…
Today my hair started to fall out. I first noticed…
Today I felt tired for most of the day. I…
Still waiting for my blood counts to go back up.…
I’ve been having issues with eating and appetite over the…
I’ve been off antibiotics for 24 hours now, untethered from…
Given the fact that my counts still weren’t going up,…
Today, Cathy, my Nurse Practitioner, came into my room and…
Ava is on her way to the Southfield Daddy-Daughter Dance.…
Going home
I checked in on Tuesday, March 8th for my transplant.…
Today was the day we’ve been working toward for the…
The last couple of days have been “interesting”. I was…
Today was a much better day. Although I didn’t get…
The mucositis has been picking up. I started getting some…
The issues with my throat escalated quickly. With each swallow…
The throat pain finally began to subside. I noticed in…
Happy Easter! Another major holiday spent in the hospital, to…
Good news. My counts are going up and I should…
Today I was discharged! In the morning I met with…
DAY 16. Today was the first day of home nursing…
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This video from October 2018 includes excerpts from an interview conducted by Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan for the 50th anniversary celebration of their cancer institute.