Greg Osterdyk

Greg was admitted to Abbott Northwestern Hospital on Wednesday December 13 for a blood transfusion.  He has now been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid  Leukemia (AML).  


His story begins just recently as he went to the doctor on Tuesday, December 12 for a cough.  At his doctor's visit, they did some initial blood tests and found out his hemoglobin level was 4.8 gm/dl...normal should be around 14 for male adult.  His doctor advised him that his hemoglobin was very, very low and  he wanted to get the rest of the test results from the overnight run.  He sent Greg home and told him he would call in the morning.  Wednesday morning, December 13 he received a call from the doctor telling him he needed to go down to Abbot and start to figure out what was going on.  He said pack a bag as they most likely would be there overnight. They were expecting him.  Greg drove himself to the hospital, got admitted and blood was being drawn left and right.  The doctor came in during some first initial tests and said....I'll be straight with you.  All tests are pointing to Leukemia.  Wednesday afternoon we met with Dr. K from Oncology.  He scheduled a bone marrow biopsy for Thursday at 11:00am .  He wouldn't tell us anything until we got the test results back.  Fast forward to Friday morning December 15 with the diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.  

Leukemia is "staged" differently than other types of cancer since it is blood cancer.  Your blood travels through your whole body and essentially affects every possible organ and system.  It was explained to us that there is Acute and Chronic Leukemia.    Chronic Leukemia you are in an outpatient situation, put you on some antibiotics and send you home.   Acute means that this leukemia can progress quickly if not treated and would probably be fatal in a few months.   This is what we are dealing with.   The goal is to get this leukemia in remission.  

They are transferring him to the Oncology ward at Abbott Northwestern this afternoon and starting chemotherapy tomorrow, Saturday December 15.  His chemo will last 7 days and then 7 days off.  After 14 days, they will do another bone marrow biopsy and continue another round of chemo for 7 days, off 7 days and then another biopsy.  At that point we will see where we sit.   We are looking at about 30-35 days in the hospital right now.  

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we ride this journey as a family.  Our household has always been a firm believer of things happen for reason.  We may not know what that reason is right at this moment or next week, but in due time, we will find out.   We thank everyone for the outpouring of support.   We will update you as we know things.  We are in good hands at Abbott!