Journal entry by Steve Brumfield —
On 14 Jan 2020, I had a Dr.'s appointment with my oncologist to discuss my preliminary diagnosis of Chronic Lyphocytic Leukemia or CLL and what our further plans would be for treatment. On this particular day, he also wanted wanted to do a bone biopsy to confirm his findings and to make sure CLL was the proper diagnosis. It went downhill from there.
On 15 Jan 2020, I was on my way to Oklahoma to meet with some customers when I received a call from my oncologist stating we needed to talk as soon as possible and I needed to meet with him the next day or so. I arrived at my hotel and called him back and he gave me the news that my bone biopsy showed that I have what they call, Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). AML is a more serious Leukemia, so we needed to start a plan of attack as soon as possible. On Friday I met with my oncologist and his office made arrangements for me to receive my port on the following Tuesday and start chemo on Wednesday. My thoughts at the time, this is moving really fast and I'm having to sink all this into my brain and get ready for a long ride with treatments, hospitalizations, and recovery. My wife was a trooper during this time which she's always been there for me, our two grown children, and grand kids. I started treatments that Wednesday and immediately had 2 more, one on Friday and 1 the following Monday. After my round of chemo, my oncologist informed me that if I ran a low grade fever I needed to head to an emergency room on weekends/night or contact his office on weekdays. As usual, my fever rose a little on the following Thursday night and immediately admitted into Memorial Hermann hospital, Memorial City (Houston).
My feelings were during my initial admittance in the hospital was, I'm really feeling healthy, why am I here? Dr's were coming in and out surprised at how I looked and how I felt. That occurred the first few days and it went downhill from there. My platelets started dropping and of course I had an allergic reaction to one of my IV antibiotics (Vancomycin). My body was turning into a complete rash from my platelets being low, chemo rash and having a reaction to the Vancomycin. The allergic reaction rash was from my mid-waist down to groin area. It was extremely itchy, irritating and burning. The nurses kept telling me not to scratch because the last thing I needed was an infected wound on my body. Once the docs figured out my reaction to IV antibiotics and changing it something I was not allergic to, I was starting to feel a little better except I was having a hard time breathing when I moved around or went to the restroom. After numerous units of platelets, blood and plasma, my body was slowly shutting down. That's when I really had a hard time breathing.
After using the restroom and walking back to my bed, I could not breathe!! I told the nurse this and she said to try and breathe in and out through my mouth. It didn't work. Breathing got worse!! Terri saw what was going and immediately called Dr. Chedid asking if this was normal and would it get better. She was not happy at what was going on. Another nurse came in and immediately took action. I'm not sure what really happened afterward, but remember a lot of nurses coming in and putting me on a breather. At last!! Oxygen!! The breather forced O2 down into my lungs and I could feel the relief. I do remember one thing when the breather was on me. I asked Terri to take a picture of me, so she could send it to my son since I thought it would look cool to him. After that, I woke up 4 days later with people giving me a sponge bath...it felt great but not sure if I really liked other folks bathing me, but at this point, I didn't care. When I finally came to, I felt like I was hit by a Mack truck!! I was in ICU for several days because I was diagnosed with double pneumonia (my lungs were filled with blood), septic, esophageal varices, and ended up with C-diff. I was not in great shape!!
After a few weeks and long ugly days and nights, I started getting better. The only problem I had was not being able to walk and my blood work were still low. After about 35 units of blood and platelets, my numbers went up and I was able to go home. It was rough at home at first since I could not walk and was still v
My thoughts at that time...I needed to pray a lot!! I needed support from my family and friends which I did!! I kept thinking about my favorite verse in the Bible...Phil 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Christ did strengthen me and continues to strengthen me!!
On 15 Jan 2020, I was on my way to Oklahoma to meet with some customers when I received a call from my oncologist stating we needed to talk as soon as possible and I needed to meet with him the next day or so. I arrived at my hotel and called him back and he gave me the news that my bone biopsy showed that I have what they call, Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). AML is a more serious Leukemia, so we needed to start a plan of attack as soon as possible. On Friday I met with my oncologist and his office made arrangements for me to receive my port on the following Tuesday and start chemo on Wednesday. My thoughts at the time, this is moving really fast and I'm having to sink all this into my brain and get ready for a long ride with treatments, hospitalizations, and recovery. My wife was a trooper during this time which she's always been there for me, our two grown children, and grand kids. I started treatments that Wednesday and immediately had 2 more, one on Friday and 1 the following Monday. After my round of chemo, my oncologist informed me that if I ran a low grade fever I needed to head to an emergency room on weekends/night or contact his office on weekdays. As usual, my fever rose a little on the following Thursday night and immediately admitted into Memorial Hermann hospital, Memorial City (Houston).
My feelings were during my initial admittance in the hospital was, I'm really feeling healthy, why am I here? Dr's were coming in and out surprised at how I looked and how I felt. That occurred the first few days and it went downhill from there. My platelets started dropping and of course I had an allergic reaction to one of my IV antibiotics (Vancomycin). My body was turning into a complete rash from my platelets being low, chemo rash and having a reaction to the Vancomycin. The allergic reaction rash was from my mid-waist down to groin area. It was extremely itchy, irritating and burning. The nurses kept telling me not to scratch because the last thing I needed was an infected wound on my body. Once the docs figured out my reaction to IV antibiotics and changing it something I was not allergic to, I was starting to feel a little better except I was having a hard time breathing when I moved around or went to the restroom. After numerous units of platelets, blood and plasma, my body was slowly shutting down. That's when I really had a hard time breathing.
After using the restroom and walking back to my bed, I could not breathe!! I told the nurse this and she said to try and breathe in and out through my mouth. It didn't work. Breathing got worse!! Terri saw what was going and immediately called Dr. Chedid asking if this was normal and would it get better. She was not happy at what was going on. Another nurse came in and immediately took action. I'm not sure what really happened afterward, but remember a lot of nurses coming in and putting me on a breather. At last!! Oxygen!! The breather forced O2 down into my lungs and I could feel the relief. I do remember one thing when the breather was on me. I asked Terri to take a picture of me, so she could send it to my son since I thought it would look cool to him. After that, I woke up 4 days later with people giving me a sponge bath...it felt great but not sure if I really liked other folks bathing me, but at this point, I didn't care. When I finally came to, I felt like I was hit by a Mack truck!! I was in ICU for several days because I was diagnosed with double pneumonia (my lungs were filled with blood), septic, esophageal varices, and ended up with C-diff. I was not in great shape!!
After a few weeks and long ugly days and nights, I started getting better. The only problem I had was not being able to walk and my blood work were still low. After about 35 units of blood and platelets, my numbers went up and I was able to go home. It was rough at home at first since I could not walk and was still v
My thoughts at that time...I needed to pray a lot!! I needed support from my family and friends which I did!! I kept thinking about my favorite verse in the Bible...Phil 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Christ did strengthen me and continues to strengthen me!!
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