thanks i am going to tell him you are all thinking of him. I will be telling you about his condition , i hope his counts will go up soon. you have all given him strength and support thank you very much for that. I think there has been a misunderstanding he is not my husband he is my boyfriend and he is 24 years old. You will all be in my thoughts

Makedonka,

Boyfriend, husband. Makes no difference. He is someone you love deeply. His youth is also on his side. He will do well.

Cliff

At 24 he should have a full recovery -- please keep us up on how things are going and where he is in the chemo rounds. We are here to help -- and we are praying for you both. -- dave

Cliff and Makedonka:

First of all on the fluids -- I got so blown up that I literally could not put my socks on. Had to get the nurses to do it. The female nurses were OK but the male nurses seem to want to just brute force it and my ankels were particularly tender from the chemo or being neutropenic -- no matter -- after that I would tell them -- just put it on my foot -- I will do the rest. My feet got so big that there was not a chance they would fit in my shoe. But this is normal -- essential to keep the saline going (in my case it was 24x7 during induction) so that the chemo does not fry the kidneys or other vital organs.

Yes Cliff -- thanks for the advice -- no, armadillos are not usually aggressive ... not many wild animals are unless they get rabid or sometihng like that. There are plenty of them around here -- you see road kill of them all the time. So, not chance in my making them extinct. I have seen their dead bodies killed on the property by something -- could be coyotes or dogs. No matter, the local dogs can get into them either way and I would expect that could cause someone to get afflicted by them. I had a dog buy kept him penned up when I was not with him. But the neighbors have dogs that run over the property -- not much I can do (or really care to do) about that. Best to keep their populations down and out in the wild wild.

Oh -- if I should nail one I will only pick it up with a shovel and throw it into the pond where the turtles have told me that they appreciate my contribution to their welfare.

Take care -- dave

Dave,

As someone who has only lived in the NE, except for a wonderful 4 years in N. California, the idea of coming across an armadillo sounds so exotic. They are rather odd-looking. I bet I will find one in the dumpster, if I look hard enough.

Makedonka,

Essentially Ditto of Dave's comment. I was not quite as big a water balloon as Dave seemed to have become, but I was quite water-logged as well. To be honest, with a young person like your boyfriend, it is all just cosmetic. His heart and lungs will work fine despite the tree-trunk legs and balloons for feet. These are the things you will both laugh about when you are two old people, having lived in health for 120 years. Just get him through this.

Word of advice...don't let him do too much leg dangling when he is up in a chair. Ask for an ottoman or another chair so that he can put his feet up. Also, make him walk. Both maneuvers will help mobilize the fluid. His legs will always look the best in the morning when he wakes up. That's because it has redistributed to his lower back!! No replacement for keeping the legs raised when not walking. It will help.

Cliff

Makedonka & Andrea, just giving my experience with relapse and blood counts. I was 40 and relapsed after 18months. I had a reasonably ok time with first induction. 2nd time around the chemo and first 3weeks were ok then I got a fungal pneumonia, ended up in ICU for a couple of days and it took 6 weeks for my white cells to return!!!! I had fevers and reactions to antibiotics and it was really hard to stay strong but I did and recovered and after 7weeks in hospital got to go home. Fortunately I did achieve remission and 6 weeks later had a bone marrow transplant (without any complications) That was now over a year ago. So stay strong, don't give up - the mental strength us what got me through those 7 weeks. Makedonka your partner will need your strength and care.

Best Wishes to you, Nicole

Nicole -- you are beautiful -- wonder words of encouragement. Thanks so much.

Cliff -- armadillos tend to be all over the place -- but they are worm eaters -- that's what makes them so obnoxious -- they dig in the grass and make big holes that makes mowing the lawn on a riding mower like trying to ride a jack hammer for a pogo stick. They don't get in the dumpsters like those raccoons do. -- dave

Everyone,

We need to rally around Robbie who just lost his wife to AML the day of her diagnosis. I imagine she died of septic shock. He is distraught and so am I thinking about his pain. I hope everyone is there for him.

Cliff

Just to appeal to you -- if you are new to this support list -- just joining, we set up this thread for you. Please let us know if you have any questions or if we can help you in any way. Most of us have "been there" either ad patients or care givers. We can help -- dave

dave, I recently joined the group. I started responding to some people's posts but I should have come to this thread first.

Im 61 female, diagnosed with AML- FLT3 in dec2011, received two induction chemosynthesis, one consolidation chemo. I had umbilical cord blood stem cell transplant in Jun2012. Now I'm 4 month post transplant. I had some side effects during the chemo sessions and one infection during the 2nd induction. To me, transplant was much harder. I had a pretty bad mucositis from mouth down to the entire GI tract. I had many discomforts. I am doing fine now with some body ache, my vision is getting worse, and occasionally I still have nausea. My taste is not completely normal yet; eating is my main job everyday. I would like to gain back 15 lbs.

I've been working in pharmaceutical area for over 20 years. Life had been very busy with family and work. AML changed everything. Now I wake up every morning and appreciate every minute of it. Life is beautiful!

Violet

Violet,
Wow, what a story. I am in radiology. It seems most of us here burned the candle at both ends.
Thanks for replying to my other posts. I had severe mucusitis during my 1st induction. Luckily not so bad on second induction. I was on TPN and lost 35 lbs during my first induction. I have only regained 12. My biggest goal now is working hard to be in shape when the transplant day happens for me.
I am so happy you are posting with us and have joined our group.

Andrea Bozzi

Andrea,

I lost 30 lbs with my therapies and transplant. I have gained back 20 and am unhappy that I plumped up again. Now I am on a diet. My sense of taste was EXTREMELY altered by the treatments, but by 6-9 months it was essentially back to normal and now.....what can I say. I am just a little pig. Keep your muscles toned and eat healthily. As I mentioned to Phil, it is amazing how your muscles will come back even if you just do normal activities. They seem to have a memory.

Keep listening to Violet. She has been through the FLT3 tunnel and came out the other end.

Cliff

Violet:

Welcome aboard. With your experience you are going to be of great assistance to the many who come aboard without a clue (through no fault of their own). Sorry to hear of your continuing side effects, but you are very wise to stay positive about it -- its very good for your health! I am sure that our body will continue to adapt. I am chemo-only but it took me well over a year to get over the quick fatigue, and I cannot say I am normal yet. At this point I am glad I did not have a transplant, but like Ollie, if I relapse, I will definitely go that route (if they will allow it -- I am now 69). But then there are always the alternative treatments that seem to be working quite well for some of our people.

I appreciate your helping others ... that is what its all about. Take care and please keep us up on your situation as it develops -- dave

Violet,
Sorry to hear that it has been so rough on you. I also had a transplant although not a cord blood one. I also had a hard time with transplant and got mucositis in my mouth and all down my gi tract. It was not fun, but all better now. My sense of taste has finally returned to normal, took about a year. 4 months out with no major complications, that is awesome. Hoping that it continues to be boring.

Abby

Hello everyone,

I am new here although I have been reading the posts for a week or so. I was very pleased to find such a positive group.

I was diagnosed with AML in early August and have just turned 34. I failed my first induction and then had induction with Clofarabine and Danurubicin as part of a clinical trial, this worked well so I am now back in "the joint" on my second day of consolidation. My consultant is looking for a donor and then I am going to have a stem cell transplant.

I guess I am coming to terms with the treatment etc and, if truth be told, I have been very lucky in experiencing hardly any problems and no fevers so far. Still, I am pretty devastated that this has happened so unexpectedly, particularly as it will mean that my husband and I cannot have children. That seems a silly thing to worry about when your life is on the line but that is how I feel.

Louise