How I got here Pt. II

It started March 10, 2006. when I woke up in the morning, I had a bloody nose that took about 15 minutes to get it stop. In the next couple of weeks the same thing occurred two more times. I became very fatigued and had a hard time catching my breath after the slightest exertion(singing in church). When I would get home from work, I would be completely exhausted and needed a nap before dinner. My job as a securiy analyst was not physically demanding. But outsmarting hackers and monitoring a Metropolitan area computer-network for evidence of intruders is mentally taxing. But I have always been an energetic person and my symptoms concerned me greatly! Especially since the symptoms were getting worse.
On March 20, 2006 I made an appointment with a doctor and he ran a series of tests expecting something wrong with my heart. The ECG, came back to normal except my heart rate was 120 bpm. Heart attack was ruled out so he ordered a battery of blood tests. And I went home to await the results. At 1:50 AM March 21, 2006 my telephone rang. Assuming bad news about my family, back in Carolina, was awaiting me, I scrambled to the phone.
A strangers voice on the other end, asked to confirm my name, and then proceeded to tell me he was calling from the hospital and that my test results showed I needed to come to the emergency room immediately. The man refused to elaborate. But he insisted that I come now. I went in accompanied by my best friend in the world, My wife. And after being visited by a plethora of medical specialists, around noon an oncologist showed up and told me I had a blood problem that would require a bone-marrow biopsy to identify the cause. 2 lidocain injections, one relatively painless needle aspiration of my hip bone and my first-ever blood transfusion later, I went home to await the results. The blood transfusion reinvigorated me and I went back to work and enjoying life.

At my follow up appointment April 7, 2006 the transfused energy had waned considerably, and my Oncologist told me I had AML (Acute myeloid leukemia). I had heard of leukemia. But never strung together with those other words. So I asked, half jokingly, "Does that mean I have a blood cancer?" The "YES" answer was so unexpected, a kick in the crotch would not have centered my attention any faster. I had a thousand questions, all of which he answered. But the only two I recall were; "What if we just let it alone?" and "What is my prognosis if I submit to treatment?" The answers are equally burned into my memory. They were; "you will be dead within the next 3 weeks." and "you have a 25% chance of surviving 5 years." I have never been big on gambling. But the latter sounded like a much better bet.
So, I got another transfusion and he wrote me a note excusing me from work (until further notice), and made an appointment for me to be admitted a week later and begin chemotherapy. There was never any mention of marrow transplants. I had no idea what that meant. In the ensuing days, with the aid of WIKIPEADIA, I become a subject matter expert on leukemia and various other subjects concerning human blood diseases. Before I returned to the hospital my Doctor called me with what he termed as "Good news." It turned out, he had an update for my diagnosis. I had a very rare, but highly treatable subform of leukemia (M3, promyelocytic, or acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) t(15;17)). It appears my death sentence had been revoked. As treatments recently devised by the Chinese have proven to provide a 90% cure rate. I asked the doctor if he meant to use the word "cure" and he said "yes."
I underwent chemotherapy with a combination of drugs consisting of "idarubicin," and "all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)." The latter was a giga-dose level of Vitamin A. The former was an intravenous drug that resembled "Orange Kool-Ade" inside the plastic tubing that lead into my arm. By July 4th 2006 I felt great and went to a picnic at my work to visit (Those people are the greatest support group anyone could ever wish for. From the Facilities Custodian to the CEO). I was due to go back to the hospital the following Monday, July 10, 2006 for a final dose of chemo. That Saturday July8, 2006, I went on a motorcycle ride with some friends. The pictures taken of me that day are titled "last ride."
NEXT TIME "Life After Motorcycles."