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Donna

I was shockingly diagnosed with a monoclonal spike in November 2019 (six months after the unexpected death of my mom). Treatment was started in June 2020. I went to Mt. Sinai NYC where they have a team that just deals with multiple myeloma (MM). I am grateful that a couple of people recommended I go there. They treated me with four drugs, one of which wasn’t available at my local oncologist. The regimen was Velcade, Revlimid®, daratumumab, and dexamethasone. I had this induction therapy until my stem cell transplant in March 2021.

Flavio

On November 8, 2023, our world changed forever when my husband Flavio was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). What began as a normal recovery from Achilles tendon surgery quickly spiraled into something far more serious. It started with comments about how pale his skin had become, a sign we now realize was the first red flag. I also noticed unusual bruising on his back, but it was dismissed by the surgeon. After several more concerning moments where Flavio was left weak and exhausted from even simple tasks, we decided to get routine bloodwork done.

Diagnosis

An accurate diagnosis of the type of leukemia is important. The exact diagnosis helps the doctor to estimate how the disease will progress and determine the appropriate treatment

Diagnosing acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and your AML subtype usually involves a series of tests. Some of these tests may be repeated during and after therapy to measure the effects of treatment.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy, also known as “radiotherapy,” uses high energy x-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells. While most blood cancers cannot be cured with radiation therapy alone, it may be combined other treatments such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy and stem cell transplantation. Radiation therapy may also be used to relieve symptoms of blood cancer and improve quality of life. For example, radiation therapy may be used to shrink an enlarged spleen, liver or lymph nodes. It may also be used to manage bone pain caused by cancer cells growing in the bone marrow. 

Healthy Eating

People living with cancer may have different nutrition goals and challenges, depending on their:

Managing Insurance and Expenses During Illness

It's important to resolve financial issues before they become a source of increased stress or limit your access to needed treatments, prescription medications or support services. Therefore, discuss payment options with members of your healthcare team or the treatment centers' patient financial services department. Patients and providers can work together to devise ways to reduce costs without compromising treatment. Ask your providers about:

Caring for Your Child During Treatment

The following changes to your home may make life easier and safer for you and your child:

Dellyanett

I was healed from cancer in 90 days! God's glory was displayed in my life in such a major way! I knew I was coming into this with VICTORY and coming out of it in VICTORY! My faith was elevated to another level. It was only a season of my life that came and went, TO GOD BE THE GLORY! This happened at a time when I was going to move to Atlanta Georgia to pursue what God has called me to do. One of those things was Acting. It seemed that at that time everything was working in my favor.

Stem Cell Transplantation

The goal of stem cell transplantation is to cure the patient’s cancer by destroying the cancer cells in the bone marrow with high doses of chemotherapy and then replacing them with new, healthy blood-forming stem cells. The healthy blood stem cells will grow and multiply forming new bone marrow and blood cells. There are two main types of stem cell transplantation. They are

CML Phases and Prognostic Factors

CML has three phases. The phase of your chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) plays a large part in determining the type of treatment you'll receive. Doctors use diagnostic tests to determine the phase of CML. Determining the CML phase is based primarily on the number of immature white blood cells (blasts) in the patient’s blood and bone marrow. 

Chronic Phase. Most patients are diagnosed with CML in the with chronic phase of the disease.

​People with chronic phase CML:

CML in Children and Young Adults

Most cases of CML occur in adults. From 2012 to 2016, approximately 2 percent of all cases of CML occurred in children, adolescents and young adults less than age 20.

Are Clinical Trials Safe?

U.S. clinical trials are designed to give patients the safest, potentially most effective clinical therapies. Clinical trials are conducted once researchers have shown in the laboratory and in animal research that a particular study treatment has a good chance of offering better outcomes for people with a specific disease.

Patients enrolled in cancer clinical trials are never treated as “guinea pigs.” In fact, patients are given either

Peripheral Neuropathy

Cancer treatment, or sometimes the disease itself, can cause peripheral neuropathy (PN) — damage to nerves of the peripheral nervous system, which transmits information from the brain and spinal cord to every other part of the body. Peripheral neuropathy can be caused by:

Home Care

You don't necessarily need to depend on inpatient medical facilities to meet all your healthcare needs. If your condition allows, you can get the quality care you need at home and avoid the inconveniences of hospitals, nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities.

Maggie

I often said that cancer showed up at the worst time for me. I was finishing my first year of medical school and was in the midst of a very busy season finishing all the planning for my upcoming wedding. But honestly, is there ever a good time for cancer to show up? Would it have been better five years later as a busy, working doc? Or even later on with kids to take care of? Likely not. The truth is cancer is never a welcome visitor. It disrupts everything and turns life upside down.

John

In January 2020, I had returned to my home outside of Charleston, South Carolina, from a 28-day assignment to Anchorage, Alaska. Even though I had returned on December 15, I had picked up what we thought was a cold. The cold would not go away. My wife insisted that I get a chest x-ray for what we thought was pneumonia. Cancer was the last thing on my mind. I was working as an aircraft mechanic at Joint Base Charleston.

Zoie

My mom thought it was the flu, maybe mono. After I spent five days lying in bed, she took me to an Urgent Care Clinic. I knew it was something far more serious after they called an ambulance. My mom wouldn’t believe the Urgent Care doctor when he told her he suspected it was cancer. Unfortunately, he was right. I was 11 when I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Charles

I was alone with my doctor in the hospital when she told me I had no bone marrow matches in the world. I cried a lot that day. I was admitted two weeks prior, after relapsing from acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive blood cancer. As a husband, father and criminal prosecutor, I’ve dedicated my life to caring for my loved ones and protecting my community. Now, leukemia was threatening my life and there was no one that could protect me from it. 

Allyson

In November 2016 I was tired. TIRED. I had a 20-month-old and a 4-year-old, had just come off the busiest month of the year for work, and I figured I was tired for no other reason. But then tired became not having the energy to take care of my 20-month-old. Tired became going to be my best friend's wedding and needing to lay down in between steps. Shower, lay down. Makeup, lay down. Hair, lay down. Get dressed, sit for a minute. Walking a long hallway seemed daunting. And then carrying my son from my car at a gas station to the restroom inside on a road trip was too much.

Nicole

Just two weeks into my junior year of high school, I was pulled out of class at lunch and packed a small overnight bag, not realizing I wouldn’t return to school for the entire year. 

My name is Nicole, and in 2022, I celebrated the 10-year anniversary of that life-altering day. 

Chancez

Hey, my name is Chancez (ironically, I was blessed with many chances last year). I became a part of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) community last year and was provided financial support. I was also presented with love, care, and daily reminders of all the support that was available to me to get me through such a rough period in my life. A friend of mine suggested that I share my story to help others in our community, especially young adults who are in the same predicament I was once in.

Joseph

Feb 10, 2012 has forever changed our lives. Joseph was 6 years old and in his fifth month of kindergarten.  Joe's journey actually began many months prior. Shortly after starting kindergarten there were ear infections, fevers, belly pain, joint swelling and bone pain.  All this from a child who was always very healthy.  Feb 10, 2012, the definitive diagnosis of pre-b cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) was echoing through my head. Joe was admitted to the hospital immediately and taken to the pediatric hematology/oncology floor.

Virginia

I have been living with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) since August 6, 1997. The way I see it, I’m alive today because of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). The pill I take each day that keeps my leukemia in remission exists today much because of research grants awarded to Brian Druker, M.D., PhD., of Oregon Health & Science University.

Berenise

On October 22, 2013, as a senior in college, I was spontaneously diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).  I was immediately admitted into the hospital and began chemotherapy. The doctors basically said, "good luck”, as I received the routine treatment that has a survival rate of 25%. My life was flipped upside down in a matter of days. I went from planning what I was going to do after college, to deciding if I would want people at my funeral to wear black or be colorful. I didn't know whether to cry, scream, or be angry. 

Cindy

Our church choir had put on a big Easter program in 2002, lots of practices and multiple performances. After the fact, several, including me, came down with an upper respiratory infection. All my friends got better, but I didn’t. Then I started having low energy to the point that I couldn’t do my daily workouts. Next came the appearance of big, ugly bruises on my legs. At that point, I thought I was anemic. When I called to get a doctor’s appointment, the only opening was with his nurse practitioner.