On July 11th we got to Cuzco with my family. Cuzco is at an 11,152 feet elevation so, felt dizzy once we got to the hotel.  They give you coco leaf tea which is supposed to help with the elevation sickness. Next day to acclimatize we had chosen to go to Sacred Valley  & Pisac which is a little lower elevation. We saw the cutest Alpaca & Llamas. On 13th July we went to Machu Picchu via train from Poroyo to Aguas Caliente and then by bus to the entrance of the majestic park. What a majestic sight and scenery of the Andes mountain combined with the terrace cultivation of the Mayans.


It was all the Climbing at Machu Picchu which tested my stamina; I was panting and finding it difficult to keep up with my brother and dad. I wrote it off to Elevation sickness hitting me a bit more than them.  Upon return to Austin, I started driving back to San Antonio on the 16th morning when I got a call my Doctor's office that they wanted me to return to discuss my blood test results. This is where I found out that I had Leukemia and they wanted to perform a bone marrow biopsy to confirm it. On Friday, the 19th July the Doctor confirmed from the biopsy that I had Ph+ ALL; it took a while to absorb this news.


Rest of my story is in the journal below...have fun reading it and feel free to leave messages, advise, anything your heart desires!