Skin cancer was so last week. Today I went to see my internist for a troubling issue that my oncologist doesn't seem worried about: frequent urge to urinate and blood in the urine. So, as with the dermatologist, I took my health into my own hands to see what needs to be done.
I told the doctor the saga of the kidney stone, the pain, the blood in my urine, and an unusual feeling in my bladder that makes it seem like I have to pee constantly. It's different from the Lasix urgency, but added together, I feel I can never be far from a bathroom. She had me do a urine culture and gave me a referral to a urologist for a cystoscopy, a procedure that allows a bird's-eye view of the inside of the bladder. What will they be looking for? Bladder stones, infection, structural abnormalities, foreign objects--I don't want to know about foreign objects, especially if it's my long-dead fetal twin.
Oh, and they also check for cancer by scraping cells from the top layer. I've never had this procedure done, and I'm not looking forward to it. I'll make an appointment tomorrow after I see the skin surgeon.
In the ho-hum category, my oncologist told me to stop taking rapamune (sirolimus) after over two years on the immunosuppressant. I asked if I should increase the prednisone (from 10 to 20 mg.) and she said it wouldn't be a bad idea. She's concerned about the future of my bones, but since my quality of life is currently in the toilet, it's worth trying to see if the increase can help me function like a real person again, not someone sitting in the back row of my life.
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Adirondack Mountains, Feb. 2007
Tale of a Cord Blood Transplantee Who Relapses and Goes on to Have a Matched Unrelated-Donor Transplant
The Weight
Adirondack Mountains, Feb. 2007
ABOUT ME
In March 2006, I was diagnosed with a blood cancer called Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). Life as I knew it came to a crashing halt. After enduring a month in the hospital where I received intense chemotherapy, I was declared "in remission." I had three additional treatments and remained cancer-free until May 2007, when I relapsed.
My only shot at survival was to have a stem cell transplant. However, my brothers' immune markers didn't match mine, and an international search of bone marrow registries found no perfect matches. A transplant using the blood from two umbilical cords was recommended. I grasped at this straw in September 2007. It seemed to work.
This blog tells the story of my transplant and recovery, replete with outrageous slings and arrows. The expression "blood is thicker than water" has new meaning for me. I remained alive due to the blood of strangers, two of them, both male. Thanks guys.
The plot thickened when I relapsed 19 months into my new remission and had to go through the same rigamarole once more. This time, I received stem cells from a matched adult donor who was identified last go round but didn't fit into the necessary time frame. Charles Dickens could have fun with this, the stuff of pulp fiction.
I remain in remission 4 years later. My donor keeps leukemic cells in check but finds interesting ways to attack my body. Chronic graft versus host disease keeps me firmly entrenched in the medical world. And so it goes.
My only shot at survival was to have a stem cell transplant. However, my brothers' immune markers didn't match mine, and an international search of bone marrow registries found no perfect matches. A transplant using the blood from two umbilical cords was recommended. I grasped at this straw in September 2007. It seemed to work.
This blog tells the story of my transplant and recovery, replete with outrageous slings and arrows. The expression "blood is thicker than water" has new meaning for me. I remained alive due to the blood of strangers, two of them, both male. Thanks guys.
The plot thickened when I relapsed 19 months into my new remission and had to go through the same rigamarole once more. This time, I received stem cells from a matched adult donor who was identified last go round but didn't fit into the necessary time frame. Charles Dickens could have fun with this, the stuff of pulp fiction.
I remain in remission 4 years later. My donor keeps leukemic cells in check but finds interesting ways to attack my body. Chronic graft versus host disease keeps me firmly entrenched in the medical world. And so it goes.
1 comment:
You, Ronni, and I seem to be competing for the "What now?" award lately. I'm relieved that you saw the dermatologist and internist in spite of your Tx specialist's insouciance. I'm also a little worried by her relaxed attitude toward the issues that lead up to you taking your health into your own hands. Could you have a BK infection? Your symptoms all fit, including the blood in the urine. I've had it more than once and what you've described is generally what I experienced. I hope you (and Ronni) can catch a break soon. I'll be checking up on you both.
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