Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) Support Group
Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), also known as acute myeloid leukemia, is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells. Patients with AML usually present with symptoms such as fatigue, bleeding, infection, prompting medical attention. An abnormal blood test reading will then result in further testing in a hospital with a hematologist to determine AML.
Hi everyone. I was just wondering if anyone has had a SCT or BMT from an unrelated donor? My sister is 42 years old and has 2 sons. One is 16 years old and the other is 10 years old. She was first diagnosed with a very aggressive form of Myleodysplasia in March 2010. At that time we were told she would need a Stem Cell Transplant. My brother and I were both tested and was not a match. At that time, they started searching the donor list. In January of 2011 she caught a cold which turned into a lung infection and congested heart failure. They admitted her to the hospital, and did a BMB. We were told at that time that she had AML M4. They moved her to ICU and started Chemo. She was in ICU for about 4 days and then moved to the Leukemia floor, which she spent about 5 weeks. They called and said they found a perfect 10 match on the donor registry. She has been in remission; however, they did another round of Chemo 2 weeks ago in Vanderbilt to keep her in remission until she can receive her transplant. She is scheduled to move into Vanderbilt housing this weekend to get her ready for the transplant. They will put her port line in and start her strong chemo next week to kill everything, and then on May 3rd she will have her Stem Cell Transplant. We were told she will be in Nashville for 100 days so they can monitor her closely after the transplant. We have all picked our weeks to stay with her. I was just wondering what to expect and what we can do to make her as comfortable as possible. Sorry for the lengthy post, I just wanted to give you a little background on my sister. Thanks Sherry
Abby. How are you doing, My mom was resistant to Valcyte so she has to be on Foscarnet for the CMV which is given IV it is now undetected and she hopes to be off the prograf in a couple of weeks which will keep the CMV away!
Lucia- The valcyte has really helped my CMV, my viral load is now zero, it has been negative for the last few weeks, so they cut it down to maintenance level. But it is making my blood counts come down. Hopefully with the decrease in dose they will come back up.
Sherry- I am glad to hear that there was nothing seriously wrong with your sister. You will find that the meds they give us cause as many problems as they cure. For example, For GVHD they give you steroids and the steroids can cause a bunch of problems. I have hand tremors and shakes that are caused by the meds and some blurry vision problems and now my neck is swelling. All from meds. But they tell me they are going to make me better, so I continue to take them and my body is eventually adjusting to them. Your sister's will too. It is a weird life when the cure is as difficult on the body as the disease. Just help her keep positive and her spirits up.
Pam- Glad that your brother finished induction. Its a huge step. Hopefully they will find a match for him.
I am praying for all of you and your family members.