how ironic...

So of course Grey's Anatomy had to feature a leukemia storyline last night! I don't know what was more unbelievable: Izzie's illegitimate child or that of course this week they feature acute leukemia! However, the child had acute myeloid leukemia (AML), whereas I have acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) which is essentially children's leukemia and is much more easily treatable and most importantly cureable! It was really interesting for me to see Izzie getting a spinal tap done and a bone marrow biopsy because that's exactly what I had! She was way more wimpy about it than I was though... haha.

Anyway, I guess this'll be a bit of a long one as I'll try to recap the past week and a half I've been in the hospital. I know a lot of you were getting updates from my parents, so bear with me if this is repetitive, but some people haven't heard everything so I have to keep them in the loop!

On Monday, April 9th I was diagnosed with acute leukemia at Emerson Hospital in Concord, MA. After noticing that I was bruising really easily and also a sudden appearance of red/pink spots on my ankles/calves I went to get a basic blood test done on the recommendation of a hematologist at Georgetown University Hospital. After doing a little self-diagnosis on WebMD ("You just type in your symptoms and wait for the word 'cancer' to scroll up") I figured I just had low platelets - turns out I was right, but I also had sky-high counts of my white blood cells, in other words, leukemia. Cancer basically means any uncontrolled growth of cells, so leukemia is a cancer in the sense that my white blood cells were growing out of control. My leukemia is also a type of acute leukemia, so it only came on within a week or two. It's not hereditary or necessarily caused by anything in particular, so it's really a totally bizarre, random occurrence - how lucky am I?!

So after my initial diagnosis I was immediately put in an ambulance to be transferred into Boston at Brigham & Women's Hospital. Keep in mind though, throughout this entire thing I've been feeling totally fine! Well, apart from getting a little queasy from having to ride backwards in the ambulance.... Once at Brigham's I had more blood work done, got hooked up to an IV and proceeded with a bunch of different tests and stuff to diagnose exactly what kind of leukemia I had, and to check up on the rest of my body to prep me for chemotherapy. On Tuesday I had a chest x-ray done (during which I fainted so then had to get an unexpected CT scan, but everything was totally fine- I get light headed all the time), and I had a bone marrow biopsy done which wasn't painful, but pretty uncomfortable - they basically drilled into the back of my hip bone to extract bone marrow and a bit of my bone. All blood cells are produced in the bone marrow so the biopsy allows the doctors to see what's causing my cells to be growing so out of whack. I also had an EKG done of my heart, and I had an ultrasound done of my heart as well, although the ultrasound may have happened on Wednesday? Don't really remember... Then Wednesday I had a spinal tap done which really wasn't bad at all, and I had minor surgery to place a Hickman Line in my chest. The line is awesome because it means I don't have an IV in my arm anymore! It's a type of central venous catheter, basically an IV directly into my superior vena cava, one of the major veins in my chest. They're able to administer all of my meds through it, including all my chemo, and they're able to draw blood from the line so no more needles for me! It's totally painless and SO much better than having an IV in one arm and having to get blood constantly drawn from my other arm (trust me - I've got the massive bruises to prove it!)

The next couple of days are a bit of a blur, basically just recovered from all the work done in the first two days, but had a really nice weekend with lots of company that was very much appreciated. I officially started my chemotherapy on Sunday and it's all been going really well. I've responded positively to all my treatments and have barely felt any side effects. No nausea, barely any fatigue, practically nothing! It's really crazy to think I have this disease, but I honestly don't feel ANY different. Everyone that's come to see me has been a bit nervous I think but are amazed to see how well I'm doing. It's crazy for me to think, 'oh I have leukemia' because I don't feel like it at all. I feel exactly the same, and aside from my upcoming haircut, it's not like I look any different! My nurses are all amazing and I've literally got the best team of doctors working on me, so I'm in absolutely fantastic hands. The outpouring of support I've received has been absolutely incredible from family and friends and I cannot tell you all enough how appreciative I am! The prayers and well wishes have been fantastic and so reassuring - I feel incredibly confident about beating this disease and I have you all to thank! While this blog may not be much, I'm hoping it'll give people an easy way to catch up on my progress and see how I'm doing. I'll update as much as I can, but I have to admit, not too much is happening! Just hanging out at the hospital, entertaining visitors, reading and watching movies.... it's really not too bad! I'm just taking it day by day though so I'll be sure to keep you all posted. For now though, THANK YOU!