|
My Journal of My Fight Against Leukemia 
My Story
I'm Kim, a 22 year old, diagnosed with High Risk Pre-B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia(ALL) 9/28/04. I was in the beginning of my senior year at Binghamton University when I was diagnosed. Everything began when I started getting pounding headaches after walking up a flight of stairs. At first if i stopped walking they would go away, but about two weeks later, the headaches were so bad that I would have to lie down to make them go away. I was also extremely tired and finding it hard to make it to my classes. By the time I decided I needed to see a doctor about this, I could barely walk from my classroom on campus to my car in the parking lot. By the time I reached my car I would have a pounding headache and be so out of breath it was as if I had taken a 30 minute aerobics class at the gym. So, I made an appointment at the Health Center on campus to see a doctor. She diagnosed me with exercise induced headaches, and told me to walk slower to stop the headaches...
so, after hearing the doctor on campus, I decided I definitely needed to go home and go see my regular doctor. When I went home, I ended up getting my blood drawn. I had my doctors appointment on a Friday afternoon and returned to school on Sunday. Tuesday afternooon, I received a phone call from my mom telling me that my blood results were back and the doctor had called her and told her to get me to the emergency room as soon as possible, because my white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets were extremely low.
Two days later, still in the Emergency Department, I was diagnosed with Leukemia. I am now under the pediatric oncology center at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY. I have gone through the induction phase (a one month stay in the hospital getting chemotherapy), which put me into remission, 8 days of cranial radiation & several spinal taps(central nervous system protective phase), the intensification phase, and the maintenance phase. The total length of my treatment was 25 months.
"If Children have the ability to ignore odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other chance is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or fight like hell".
-Lance Armstrong
Journal
Monday, July 7, 2008 4:56 PM CDT okay, it's been a LONG time since I've last updated. I don't know if anyone even checks the page anymore..
I continue doing check-ups, but am now down to once every four months.
Now that I'm this far out from treatment, my cancer life seems like it was ages ago. I've almost reached the point where it seems like it wasn't even me who completed the 25 months of chemo... weird, i know. Even though it seems so far away from me, I try and hold it close still.
At the end of May I began an accelerated nursing program at the university of rochester. This program is for anyone who has a bachelors in something, doesn't have to be science related, and you can complete your bachelors in nursing in 12 months. Let me tell you, when they say accelerated, accelerated is what it is! I'm really excited to be a part of this program, and I cannot wait until I graduate! Obviously my cancer diagnosis and treatment had a little something to do with this decision to go back to school. I hope to go on to get my masters and be a nurse practitioner in oncology, with my focus on teenagers and young adults.
The new picture is from this past June at Camp Good Days young adult retreat. Everyone in that picture is a young adult survivor. The people that I have met through being a survivor are some of the best friends I have. It's funny how something like cancer has brought me the worst experiences of my life and at the same time, the best.
i hope this journal finds everyone in good health and enjoying the summer!
<3Kim
Read Journal History
Hospital Information: AT HOME:
Rochester, NY
Links: www.campgooddays.org Best place ever
www.imtooyoungforthis.org totally true!
www.planetcancer.org my saving grace during treatment
|
|
