Karen Pena

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In August 2000 I worked as a Case Manager for Members Memorial Hospital in Deming, New Mexico. I was to go to our corporate Headquarters in Tennessee with the Hospital Administrator and the Physician Advisor for case management, to give a presentation. We were in Administrators(Tim) office it was warm and I was coughing and he ask about my cough and I told him it was just allergies. Tim stated he did not want to do the presentation with me coughing so he asked Dr. Lundy to determine if I was sick or it is was allergies. Dr. Lundy ordered chest X-ray and CBC. The next day while at the hospital getting ready to go to Tennessee, I entered the lab and was surprised to hear 3 doctors and 3 lab personnel talking about someone in the Blast Crisis and needed to be seen by Oncologist as soon as possible. When they turned and realized I was there, their faces turned white. I then noticed my name on the slides and I realized they were talking about me. Leukemia is what they suspected. It was confirmed the following week. I went to MD Anderson and was started on the Gleevec protocols. In 2006 My son and I left New Mexico and moved to Anchorage, Alaska. I work with a wonderful group of co-workers at Providence Alaska Medical Center-Home Health. I did very well on Gleevec till 2009 and had to go to Sprycel from 2009-2012 when I developed Pulmonary Hypertension, and was unable to take Tasigna due to Pancreatitis. August 2013, I started on Bosutinib which was my last option for medication for CML, 7 days later I broke out with a bad rash from head to toe, they cut the dose down and the Medication was doing great for the CML. Sept 22, 2015, I went for Evaluation which determined that my spline is enlarged from the medication. So on 10/22/15 my brother Donald Hollingsworth will be donating some of his Bone Marrow for a Bone Marrow Transplant. The greatest gift of all to give some one is the gift of life. So our Journey begins on Oct 12, 2015.