Dhouser,
My husband was diagnosed March 6, 2013. He just completed his first induction and we are set to go home shortly. We both felt as though we were hit with a truck; we couldn't wrap our heads around what was happening to us. I feel fortunate to have found this site. The folks here provided me with so much support and many answers to my many questions. You will find the same thing as well. I wish you and your husband all the very best and will include him in my prayers.

Myra

Myra, I know that sigh of relief when they tell you, you can go home. Congrats, he made it through the worse of it, induction. At least it was the worse of it for me.

Hope you two enjoy your time off. Even if for a few days. Does he come back in for consolidation?

lily

Dhouser,
Welcome to our group. Yes it is very scary and you do feel like a Mack truck and freight train hit all at once. I was very healthy too as were many of us.
I cannot add any more than what's been said. I also have had immunostains to check for blasts, but that was while I was on clinical trial. In this group, I have probably had the most biopsies (17) somewhat addictive at this point. I am at my longest period without one.
So, have faith. We will help you along the way. Your daughter will be ok. Do not shield her from the reality that will come, sickness, lost hair, etc.
Be strong.
Peace, love &hope,
Andrea

Lily,
Yes, it feels wonderful to be home and to sleep in the same bed with David. We have a doctor's appointment on Friday and will learn more then. I know that we are facing consolidations and a possible transplant. A lot depends on finding a suitable match and the fact that he will be 68 this week. Thanks for your support and encouragement. I wish you all the very best as well and will keep you in my prayers.

Myra

Thank you so much for the support! My mom has 1 more day left in her second cycle of induction. Hoping she'll be allowed to come home tomorrow or Tuesday. We had a difficult week because her body started to reject the platelets. We were very scared. Now they're giving her blood type-specific platelets and so far so good! We're taking this as a very positive sign. Dave you are right, the oncologists are not very positive but that's okay. The nurses and techs in the hospital are wonderful.
I will continue to pray for you all!
June

June: We are praying for you and your mom as well. Hopefully her next BMB will show that she is in remission and they can get on with consolidation. This is the first I have heard of platelet rejection, but it stands to reason. If they match up the blood type that should work. I had an incident where my hands started burning me when I was in the middle of a transfusion, but I just toughed it out. I am not sure what it was, but that seems too fast to be the type of problem that your mom had. In my case I did not want them to "stop the presses" so I never told anyone and it just worked itself out. Be sure to be taking good care of yourself -- eat, sleep, exercise -- it is important that you stay healthy. -- dave

Dhouser,
My Husband Jimmy was diagnosed MDS/AML in Sept.2012. He is starting his induction treatment next week. Our children are 13, 17 and 19 years old so I know how scared you are but I am really glad you found this site. The people here are wonderful and have become such a life line for us.

Margaret

Hello everyone,
David and I have been home for one week and he is getting stronger every day. It is truly remarkable how the human body can rebound from such an onslaught of drugs.

Yesterday we had our first post induction appointment with the doctor and we told that without a transplant, David's chances of longterm remission were slim. Since his only sibling is deceased, they are looking into the registry. Due to his age (68), the importance of a 10/10 match is critical. They began all of the preliminary testing - heart, lungs, etc. My question to you is how difficult is it to find such a perfect match. I think that we both knew that this was a possibility, but when the doctor laid out all of the possible complications with a transplant, we were both shell shocked.

Thanks for your insight.

Myra

Myra - there are about 16 million people in the worldwide registry... And yet, finding a 10/10 depends on many factors, mostly genetic and it's often based on ethnic groups. The chances are much higher to find a match from his own ethnic origin.
For example, I'm Jewish and in my ethnic group there's over 80% chance to find 10/10 match (and yet in my personal case I have a rare combination and therefore 10/10 hard to find. Luckily I only had to have chemo as first line of treatment).

Good luck!
Abby

Oh, Myra -

I am sure you are experiencing such a mixture of relief and worry at this point. It is wonderful to hear that your David continues to improve! I hope that you will hear encouraging news very soon on the donor front - I am confident that you will, in fact. And of course I can relate, too, to your reaction to the description the doctors give of what can go wrong. Ugh. Thinking of you.

Robin

June, I rejected platelets and received blood specific platelets. Things got really dangerous for me at first because they didn't realize what was happening. My platelets went down to 1000. About as low as they could go. They switched gears and had all kinds of stuff on my IV pole to support me through the chemo. I have been in remission since the induction. A year now. It is scary, but they will bring her through it.
Myra, it is so hard to always, always live in the moment. There is no other way with AML. You just have to do your best to keep your faith. I did chemo only when I turned 60. So age is nipping at my heals as well. If I stay in remission...yea. If not, guess this old girl will be looking at transplant too. I will do what I have to do. Life is precious.
Margaret you and your husband continue to be in my prayers as you all are.
lily

Thanks Robin, it was good to hear from you. I always think of your dad because of the similarities between him and my husband. Please keep us posted as to his progress. When will he be having his surgery? I wish him and your entire family well and am keeping everyone in my daily prayers. Also, thanks for your encouraging words regarding the match.

Abby, thanks for your insight. I am praying that a 10/10 match will be found.

Myra

Lily,
Thanks for your advice. I know how important it is to live in the moment. It's just not something that I am used to doing. Thanks again for your encouragement. I promise to keep my faith strong.

Myra

Myra,

It's funny. Each one of us wants to be "one of a kind" until it comes to finding a transplant donor. Then we want to be 1 in 100. Don't worry, David will find a donor. Even the Captain of Team Transplant, Andrea, was able to get by with a haplo-donor and seems as if she is doing very well. Abby2 is right about the ethnic factors. Caucasians generally find donors more easily than African Americans. People of mixed race often have even more trouble. Yet, our wonderful Phil, who is African American had SEVERAL possible donors and is shining through his first 100 days. So you never know. The best thing is to be positive about all of this. I had 4 possible donors, but who would have thought that the best match was from a young man in Germany? God work in mysterious way!

Love to you and Ben,

Cliff

Thanks, Cliff. You are always so reassuring. I appreciate your wisdom and will let you know the outcome.

Myra