Tuesday, August 26, 2008

The day our lives changed

On Sunday night I took CarGuy to the emergency room for abdominal pain he had been having for a couple weeks. He's a guy so of course it took some time to convince him he needed to do this. Well...long story short...he has Chronic Prolymphocytic Leukemia. This is a very rare form of leukemia and is even rarer in someone his age - almost 47. It's normally seen in 60 or 70 year olds. For this reason we might be looking at a bone marrow transplant in the next few years. Since it's so rare samples are being sent to the Mayo Clinic so we might hear more from them in the coming weeks.

It's an aggressive form of the less aggressive leukemia. Make sense? I know, it didn't to me either when it was explained about 2 hours ago. I'll try to put down in writing what I figured out. You either have acute or chronic leukemia. Acute is the kind that is usually quickly fatal and chronic is much more manageable and doesn't require quick treatment; acute is more aggressive and chronic is not. With me so far? Now within the chronic area there are types that are so non-aggressive that all you have to do is take a pill a day and you are good for the rest of your life and then on the other end of the scale there is the lovely little bugger that has taken hold of my husband's blood. He will definitely be sorry he's messing with my family!!

So...tomorrow we start the first step of chemo, Thursday it looks like a port will be put in, and then on Friday the rest of the chemo cocktail will be served. Hopefully he will get to come home from the hospital either Sunday or Monday. Speaking of....I need to get back over there. He needs some diet coke, his own pillow, and I'm taking Peanut to go see his dad. Peanut's really been lost without him around so I think it will be good for both of them.

I'm going to try to not let this blog become a downer so I'm going to try and find the funny parts of cancer but just in case I slip into some morose areas, just pat my hand and tell me everything is going to be ok. M'kay?

17 comments:

Dawn said...

I will keep your family in my prayers. And it's ok if sometimes your blog is a downer...we all have real lives and understand. I will be back to pat your hand and encourage you!

CaraBee said...

Blog about whatever you need to get out there. My husbands sister is currently fighting non-hodgkins lymphoma. My hubs was a bone marrow donor for her a couple of months ago. You and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Unknown said...

You blog whatever you need to blog, okay?? That's what friends (even bloggy type) are for - to listen (read)... and just to be here when the poo hits the fan.

I'll be praying for all of you!

Aubrey said...

I'll not only pat your hand, I'll be "holding"it over here.

Debbie said...

Oh Rene! I came over to remind you about BATW tomorrow and wasn't expecting to see this. I am so sorry. I will pray with you...and you write about whatever you want...

KCalla said...

Rene - write away. We are all concerned over at Dotti's. And we'll stand with you in prayer. I can't pat your hand but aubrey's holding it and that's GOOD!

FloriKat said...

Rene,
You and your guys are in our prayers and thoughts. I think blogging is a good forum to share your thoughts. We are here for you and whatever you need. I've thought a lot about your title of this blog entry. Life can be fragile but "with God, all things are possible."
Love you. Kathy & Larry

Jenkins said...

I will be praying for your family. Feel free to share whatever, whenever you want. The awful "c" thing will become a part of your daily life but it does not have to take over everything. Try not to let it take over everything then everyone is better equipped to fight it.
Oh and happy BATW!

Ronnica said...

Prayed for you and your husband. The great thing about blogging is that you can set the tone, and we can follow suit. Oh, and I don't think anyone has to apologize for making their blog downer because real-life is sometimes that way.

Britt said...

Honesty isn't a downer .. it's a release. I'm so sorry your family is going through this. I'm praying for you all!

And it will be okay .. He always has a plan, and always holds our hands through the hard parts.

Susie said...

Praying for you over here. I will never forget the day my life changed. We are still struggling through it, taking one day at a time. Fortunately, we are at the end of treatments for the moment. But remember if you need some advice or just someone to vent to, we are all here.

Rela Pantaleon said...

My dad had AML and a friend has CML.

Will pray for you, your husband and the whole family for strength and comfort. And specially for a donor to become available at the right time.

Lori said...

Goodness, Rene. I don't check in for a few days and your husband goes and gets cancer. Geesh! All kidding aside, I'm very sorry to hear about this and I agree with the others. This is your blog and you use it any way you need to to get through this. Feel free to share the good, the bad and the ugly; we're up for it.

I was actually stopping by to thank you for your kind words about Oscar. It's such a hard decision to make so I appreciate your support and wanted to let you know.

Lots of hugs and hang in there!

Breanne said...

Oh - I amk so sorry. I will keep yall in my prayers. Yeah - its ok to let the blog be a downer.

John Deere Mom said...

Oh no. I haven't been around in the past week and missed this. So, so sorry to hear that you are going through this. I will keep you and your hubby in my thoughts and prayers.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for stopping by and commenting on my blog!!! It was very timely - I'll email you :)

Apple Joos said...

I'm really sorry this has happened, Rene. I've said a prayer for you and Carguy. Please keep us posted and thank you for pointing this out to me. It's definitely one I'm sorry I missed the first time around.