Mom

Here is part of the email she sent to the family this morning:

There are 4 weird semi-benign blood diseases one could get that affect the platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells and I have three of them, possibly four. At least two, possibly three, have morphed into the other thing I have now. This is more serious. There are four markers that say whether or not this new disease I have is mild or not. At this point I don't have any of the markers that aren't manageable with medication (that's good), so I have the mild version. These include an elevated platelet count, elevated red blood cells, etc. However, and this is the bad news, this disease does usually march right on up the chain of seriousness. If I had been told that I had two or more of those markers I would be looking at a lifespan of about 1-3 years. As it is, I'm looking at 10-12 years on average. And that's the kicker: If this thing progresses quickly I could be on the low end of that average and if it progresses slowly I will have a longer life span than that average. If I turns into leukemia there is no treatment. Since none of my symptoms is uncontrollable right now, I don't qualify for an experimental protocol - I would have to be at the Intermediate or High Risk level to qualify. That's good. So the treatment for now is to continue exactly what I'm doing (pills, weekly injection, weekly blood test) except to change one medication (back to one I was taking years ago) to keep my blood levels normal. Then we wait. For the morbidly curious, what will do me in whenever it happens is a massive brain bleed, a heart attack, or infection/pneumonia...those sorts of things.


I do not have much to say today. I do need to make a correction. I said my Uncle Dick was having seizures, it is strokes he is having. Big difference.

Taking this from Danielle's Blog of Friday Fill-In

1. Friends are my strength
2. I appreciate my health; it's precarious at times.
3. I'm ready for my Mom and sister to visit me.
4. Coconut is one of my favorite perfumes or aftershaves or smells.
5. The oldest ornament I have is something Chelsea made in preschool.
6. Take some love, mix it all together and you have family.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to seeing my husband, tomorrow my plans include cooking and cleaning and Sunday, I want to grocery shop!