Adventure Day One

November 26, 2008 –In November 2002 we were thrown into dealing with understanding Rickey’s cancer diagnosis with little or no background knowledge.  Since there is currently no cure for AML Leukemia it all seemed very confusing, all we knew was when you don’t get to zero blasts in your blood your only step is to have a bone marrow transplant – Rickey comes from a very large family as well as a circle of close friends who were tested and no one was a match, so now we would go on a list and put our fate into someone else’s hands.

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 10:59 AM Rickey writes to a colleague

Convalescing from Home; they sent me home from the hospital at 3pm on Sunday.  They almost pulled the string and stopped me at 2:45pm.  An erroneous liver read out had them talking about keeping me, but an astute male nurse reran the medical report and found the original numbers erroneous.  It’s great to be home, but my strength is yet to return.  This morning I got up fed and watered the dogs and was tired and had to rest.

My good blood counts (speaking of day to day health) are growing by leaps and bounds.  I go back to the hospital tomorrow for blood draws, and again next week for a bone marrow biopsy.  As you know the second chemo did not show a vast improvement in killing off cancer cells, although next week’s biopsy will be more specific.  My siblings’ blood samples were sent to Wofford, Air Force Base, Texas to see if any are a full match for a bone marrow transplant.

Depending on which doctor you speak to at Bethesda we will get a match from the four siblings that have some matches already, or, another doctor says maybe we won’t.  So, unless I get sick, I’ll probably stay at home gaining strength for the next chemo or bone marrow transplant or until they call with the new plan.  We are really taking it one day at a time.

Just remember, even a bad day at home is better than a good day at the hospital!

Your true character shows in adverse times- so be of strong character for yourself and for those around you who may be looking for their match to whatever challenge they are facing.  No matter what, never give up; never stop looking for the answer. 

Until our next blog – remember life is an adventure, embrace the journey.  You can make a difference one day at a time. 

Share your adventure with us!

 

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