My About page is UPDATED!
Well, I A-LOL'ed through my cancer treatment and then through my stem cell transplant. I've been in remission since January 2012, and I'm approaching my 2nd re-birthday at the end of May on the anniversary of my PBSCT.
But my journey is not over nor will it ever be over. In the aftermath of treatment and transplant, I now deal with GVHD and life-time side-effects, which makes being human again an interesting new challenge.
At least once a month I post about my experience with cancer and the aftermath, and hopefully give a laugh to those going through cancer with poorly drawn cartoons and inappropriate humor.
Please continue to laugh at my expense!
My original About Page:
ALL? More like ALOL.
On December 6, 2011 I found out I had ALL, Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, or ALL. It went something like this:
So, if you're thinking that only unhealthy people get sick, you're wrong. I just turned 25 in September. I've never smoked, I drink occasionally, and by the end of August 2011 I was jogging at least 10 miles a week. Okay, I wasn't an ultra-runner or a gymnast, but I was healthy and happy. I would get the flu during flu season, and a few colds here and there, but nothing serious. I had just started a job as a high school teacher and was having a blast.
By the end of November, just after Thanksgiving, I noticed a few lumps on my neck. Coupled with a persistent migraine and a little fatigue, I decided something was going on. I went to my doctor by the end of the week and got a blood test. Having hung around a bunch of filthy high schoolers the last three months, I figured I gotten the flu or some kind of sinus infection. So did my doctor, but she wanted to be thorough and ordered a blood test. Neck lumpies should never been taken lightly.
One day later, I was admitted into the hospital with abnormally low blood counts and the promise of a bone marrow biopsy. There was talk of cancer, but this was quickly glossed over by the less serious, more benign disgnosis of a tricky virus. Or course, I was sure it wasn't cancer. There was no way. I was 25, healthy, normal. I had no history of anything more serious than a ovarian cyst.
After a excruciating bone marrow biopsy, the results were in: Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, or ALL. Two years of chemotherapy. My life was over. I couldn't believe it. This wasn't possible.
But it was. I have ALL. I have cancer.
I made a decision that day, December 6th, 2011, that though I would eventually lose my hair, my energy, possibly even my ability to have children, and everything I thought I was as a person, I knew that I would not lose my sense of humor.
This is the purpose of this blog. Throughout all the hardships (and believe me, only three days into my chemo treatments I had hit a very dark place), I'm determine to find hilarity in at least one thing every day for the next two years. It's going to be hard, but I need to hold onto something that has always gotten my through difficulties. And as I embark on the hardest journey of my life, I plan to laugh in the face of cancer. So, join me as I kick cancer's butt with laughter, comics and corny jokes.
ALL? More like ALOL.
NO SPAM PLEASE. Bad things happen to those who spam cancer patients.
