Hi Marty, and yes, due to my son and my PCD vigilance, I got dx soon. I
had
been giving blood so I don't think I had it that long. I wonder how
common
it is to be put in the hospital and have your blood cleansed like I did.
They put a catheter in your neck and hook it up to a big machine. The
blood
then runs through the machine to be cleansed.
It takes 3-4 hours to have this done, and they do it daily.
I did have a symptom but don't know if this was from the leukemia; it was
a
pounding of the heart several weeks before dx.
Yes, German shepherd knew I was in trouble; he didn't hit me hard enough
to
hurt me; it was neat.
Blessings
Jeanie<3
In a message dated 5/13/2014 9:05:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
Jeanie, it is not uncommon to be diagnoised the way you were. People
don't want to think the worst and will find excuesses not to have a
blood test taken.
Yes you are quite lucky that you went to the doctor because the higher
your WBC and platelets go the tougher it is to get them back under
control.
That dog that hit you under the chin while you were choking was trying
to help you. It's to bad they speak a different language then us.
18's,
Marty
On Tue, May 13, 2014 at 6:56 PM, ICANDOALLTTC via CMLHope
<[email protected]> wrote:
That's a great story, Marty.
I don't have dogs, but my daughter who lives alone with her children
bought
a German shepherd as a puppy. He is very protective, and I don't think
anyone would want to mess with her family.
When I was visiting her last year, I had a choking spell which I get
sometimes if water hits the wrong spot in my throat. I couldn't catch
my
breath, and all of sudden the dog jumped up and bopped me on the chin.
It
was his way of trying to help me. It was so cute.
Thanks for sharing your story on the discovery of your leukemia.
Here's mine:
I had flown to Ohio to be with my daughter, and I was sick while there.
I
thought I had eaten something bad. I got home, and was taking my usual
daily walk, and I got so tired I could barely stand up. I came in and
told
my son how tired I was. He told me I had to go to the doctor. I said
no,
because I never liked going to doctors and only went in cases of
emergency,
however he insisted and off I went the next day.
When I was waiting in the waiting room, my heart was pounding very hard
and
fast. The doctor who was my PCD took all my vitals and said he was
going
to
take a blood test. I told him I really didn't need one but he insisted.
Luckily he has a blood draw right in his office, so they took the blood
and
told me the results would be back the next day.
The next day he called with the bad news. He told me my platelets and
wbc
were way too high to be normal and that he was making me an appointment
with
an onc he knew. I told him I didn't think it was serious but he had
already
made the appointment.
So off I go to a new doctor I had never seen before. He also had a
blood
draw center in his office and the first thing he did was have my blood
tested. It seems my platelets were in the millions and wbc way high.
He wanted to do a BMA right then and there, and me not knowing anything
about them, agreed.
He decided right then and there that I had leukemia.
I went into the office without my son, but he was waiting for me. The
onc
told me I sure was brave to be coming there alone. I must have been in
shock because I still didn't realize what her was telling me.
Then he told me I had to go right to the hospital. Now I knew things
were
getting serious.
He said he had bad news and good news. The bad news was I had leukemia
and
the good news was that we now had Gleevec to treat it with.
I was put in the hospital and was having my blood cleanse daily. It
wasn't
doing any good but they were doing it anyway.
Finally I was sent home and I started on Gleevec. I was also on Hydrea
and
another drug, still my counts wouldn't come down. It took a while but
finally they started coming down.
The whole episode was a nightmare when I reflect back on it.
More later--
Jeanie<3
In a message dated 5/8/2014 8:45:52 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
Hi Millie and everyone else,
Just so you know I had all of my tests this morning and am now resting
at home. It really took a lot out of me but I am still doing as well
as can be. My heart is still doing what it is supposed to and although
they removed ten polyps from my colon the doctor will be sending them
off for pathology but said that she thinks everything looked good.
Hopefully she will be right.
Millie I read about the dog Lucky and it brought back memories to me.
I had an adorabile dog named Sniffer. She had the face of a baby
raccoon, and would follow me where ever I went. She was like velcros
sticking to my leg whenever I would walk her. She and I were extreamly
attatched.
I had adopted her from some obusive people when she was only nine
months old. As soon as I opened my car door she ran in as fast as a
lightening strike. She was mine and I was hers for the next fifteen
years.
When I had to get my bone marrow transplant I was gone for over seven
months and she would cry most of the time. She knew something was
wrong but didn't know where I had gone.
So, after all of these month of being away from my home, when I
finally got back home she was not allowed to stay near me because I
had a very low immune system. I even had to have my own bath
facilities and a whole bunch of other things that would not be able to
infect me.
This had gone on for several more months and when I was finally able
to have my immune system working again, I still had to ware a mask and
gloves. So I slowly went over to her and spoke in a very gentile
voice. She at first was afraid to come over to me, and would run and
hide under the bed.
I then came to find out that since I had the bone marrow transplant my
scent had changed and since I had the mask on she didn't recognise me.
it took another couple of weeks for her recognise me and once she did
then she was velcrose again.
After she died, my heart was broken, and I looked for another dog for
almost two years. Shelly and I would visit shelters every weekend and
nothing... Funny how things work out. A friend of mine by the name of
Jay (he is in my book) he had cancer and I would always spend time
with him when his wife was at work.
Well one day there is a stray german sheppard sitting across from his
house. She was filthy and smelled from gasoline. She had a bad cut on
the back of her rear leg with dried blood on it. Everytime I tried to
approach her she would show her teeth to me and growl.
She was about twenty five feet from me so I got down on my knees,
clasped my hands into a cup like shape and gently started speaking to
her. It took about fifteen minutes before she would come to me, and
when she did she just put her snoot right into my hands. I mean this
dog could have really hurt me if she wanted to but she was very gentle
with me.
I took her right to my vet who had to put a muzzle on her and he
cleaned and dressed her wound then had her cleaned up. He also warned
me that since I had small children it wouldn't be a good idea to bring
her home with me.
It seemed that she immeadiately bonded with me because as soon as the
vet removed the muzzle from her she came right over to me and started
to gently howl to me. He was simply amaized at what he saw. So, I know
that animals have this sort of sense of who we are.
I brought her home with me and introduced both of my young children
and wife to her. We had her for 12 years and she was very protective
of my wife and children. If anyone ever would try to harm any of us
then she would have given her life to protect us and as it happened
she did protect our home. The burglar almost lost his legs after she
attacked him. If we were home at the time she would have probably
killed him.
So, what does this all have to do with Leukemia? Well, my first dog
Sniffer would always come over to me and would smell me at my right
hip. I was kind of taken back by her behavior because I didn't know
what to make of it???
I later found out and then associated it. Several weeks later my right
hip started to swell up and it was really hurting me very much. It got
so bad that I went to a doctor who failed to take a simple CBC blood
test but rather gave me pain killers and an anti inflamatory. Had he
taken the blood test it would have come back with a huge white blood
cell count.
I went home but the pain got much worse and my hip was now twice the
size it should have been. My wife Shelly was in our home in
Pennsylvania because I had to work and she was off for the summer, and
I would come up on the weekends.
At about three am I felt as if I were dying so I called my friend to
take me to the hospital. I didn't want to call 911 because we lived in
a duplex and I wasn't able to climb down the stairs to be able to open
the door so they would have probably have to break it down, while my
friend had the keys.
And that is how my Leukemia started. Now if I had only known what my
dog Sniffer was doing by smelling my right hip? Animals, especially
dogs have this uncanny sense that we just can't understand because we
speak "different languages" I guess that in her own way she was
telling me that something was wrong, it was I that just didn't
understand what she was trying to tell me.
18's,
Marty
On Wed, May 7, 2014 at 10:47 PM, houtz <[email protected]> wrote:
Thought this was worth sharing. When I first got Cancer my little
dachshund wouldn't leave my side, and when I was in the hospital, she'd
cry
her heart out when I came home. I believe that they sense things
better
then people do...Love to all, Millie
This really is a great story!
[image: cid:39699F9DDE2E4740963F588FF14D329A@FranPC]
*Lucky Dog.... *
Anyone who has pets will really like this. You'll like it even if you
don't and you may even decide you need one!
Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named 'Lucky.' Lucky was a real
character.
Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would
warn
their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help
himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably, someone would
forget
and something would come up missing.
[image: cid:7F5E61FCF1C74CE1A4018C72CE4D93FB@FranPC][image:
cid:DC0BD295928B4651B7D480B00FC2F881@FranPC]
Mary or Jim would go to Lucky's toy box in the basement and there the
treasure would be, amid all of Lucky's other favorite toys. Lucky
always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that
his
toys stay in the box.
It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something
told
her she was going to die of this disease......in fact; she was just
sure
it was fatal.
She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders. The
night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A
thought struck her....what would happen to Lucky? Although the
three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary's dog through and through.
If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won't understand
that
I didn't want to leave him! The thought made her sadder than thinking
of
her own death.
The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had
anticipated
and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his
evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and
miserable.
Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived
home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn't even make it up the steps to
her
bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to
nap.
Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn't come to her when she called..
It
made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.
When Mary woke for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong.
She
couldn't move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. But panic
soon
gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered,
literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned!
While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the
basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life.
*He had covered her with his love.*
Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again,
walking further and further together every day. It's been 12 years
now
and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky. He still steals treasures
and
stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.
[image: cid:C705D58F084C427A8B925699F537DC71@FranPC]
Remember.....live every day to the fullest. Each minute is a blessing
from
God. And never forget....the people who make a difference in our lives
are
not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most
awards. They are the ones that care for us.
If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours! Live
simply. Love seriously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest
to
God.
*A small request*
All you are asked to do is keep this circulating.
*Dear God, I pray for the cure of cancer.*
*Amen*
All you are asked to do is keep this circulating, even if it is only to
one
more person, in memory of anyone you know that has been struck down by
cancer or is still fighting their battle.
[image: cid:7C648867D9824FC6BBF2FD936F5E39BB@FranPC]
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This email is free from viruses and malware because avast!
Antivirus<http://www.avast.com/>protection is active.
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