Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Apr 25, ’12
This seems a good time to note down our experiences with this particular disease that concerns the blood, specifically the bone marrow.
I need to familiarize myself with normal levels of hemoglobin, white blood cells and platelets as it seems the doctors presume you know what they mean when they throw figures at you.
it seems there is no early time to catch this disease because it being acute, it develops so fast that by the time you realize something is wrong, you’ve got full blown AML.
The tests that finally confirmed AML was the bone marrow extraction done under local anesthesia. I saw the doctor insert the needle and jiggle it around. Oh, so that’s how they do it. So different from just injecting straight away. She sort of like injected a little at a certain angle, then jiggled the needle to continue injecting at another angle and so on. Interesting.
The extraction was done on day 2 of confinement. In between, blood and platelet transfusions were immediately ordered to stabilize the condition of the patient.
The next step was to schedule surgery for insertion of portacath (portable catheter), in preparation for chemo sessions and expected additional transfusions.
Day3 of the confinement, the doctors held a conference with the family. Aw gee, they were kinda tiptoeng around. Unlike the local doctor – who blurted out his educated guess immediately even without test results. I don’t know which is better; the shock factor or the roundabout discussion where you feel they’re not telling you everything. But because of the local doctor’s comment, I was able to research a little about leukemia. And be a little prepared.
A course of action was presented and agreed upon. And so we wait for the next step. Not as straightforward as in the textbooks since a lot of factors came up. A mild infection that has to be treated before chemo can begin. Induction therapy – i believe is the official name of this chemo treatment.
Omnia Mea Mecum Porto 