A Different Kind of Trip

 

 

It has been several months since I last posted.  There is a good reason for this, a different kind of trip..

Sometime in the new year, 2014, I started feeling poorly.  No energy, no particular enthusiasm for doing anything.  I managed to struggle through some real estate deals, and the Spring art show season.  I started having severe problems with my left hip, ending up after driving back from the Pensacola show in May, having to use a walker to get around.  The urgent care doctor diagnosed a bone spur in my hip.  Not being satisfied, I got in to see Dr. Vo, an orthopedic surgeon  and after an MRI, he surmised I might have a more serious problem.  He ordered some emergency blood tests and called my home around 7:00m PM that day and informed me that I probably had leukemia.  He got me in to see an oncologist the next day, and after a very stressful week of tests, I was diagnosed with CML, chronic myeloid leukemia.  If you have ever been hit upside the head with a brickbat, that was how it felt.  I went from a lifetime of being healthy to being a cancer patient.    

CML is a form of leukemia, which if you have to have leukemia, is the best kind to have.  It is treatable or manageable with a daily pill called Gleevec, which was developed specifically for this disease.  Sounds simple, and it really is.  However, it is still chemotherapy with a long list of potential side effects.  I am two+ months into the therapy now, and am blessed to have minimal reaction, mostly just having to keep Imodium handy.  Enough said, I think.

 

I don’t mind admitting that hearing the doctor say that I had cancer, even a manageable form, sent me to a dark place.  As someone said, I think my mother-in-law, when you see your name on the report, it hits home.  Depression followed.  Luckily, with the help of my wife and a lot of prayer, the depression didn’t last very long.   I realized that there are people I know who are a lot worse off that I am.  The hardest part  has been dealing with the lack of energy, strength and enthusiasm.  All of which are slowly coming back as the drug therapy takes hold.  I will probably have to take the Gleevec pill the rest of my life, but there are certainly worse things that could have happened.  Even in a dark place, there is always a light at the end, if you have faith.