Adult ALL

mmike2484 said:

great news
First of all, thank you for the prayers. I did find out on April 3, 2009 that I went into remission, .9% cancer cells. Below 5% is normal. Yea, this made me so happy. Right now I’m in Seattle, 1700 miles away from home, getting tested for the bone marrow transplant. Luckily my sister was a match and as long as I don’t get an infection I should be good to go. The staff at scca is really professional and experienced. I couldn’t have found a better place for my transplant. I also just turned 25 on the 24th of this month. Going into remission has been the best present in my life. DDP, hope that your wife is doing good now. If you need any help or have any questions that I might be able to answer, don’t hesitate to ask me. As for me, I’m doing great. Just waiting to go through my transplant, which I hear is going to be tough. But luckily I have a beautiful gf here to help me through this. I just need to tough it out and get through the first few 100 days after the transplant.

Best Wishes
I am pleased to hear that your disease was arrested so that you can proceed onto a transplant. Many people have successfully gone through the transplant process, so the one thing we know for a certainty is that it can be endured. My situation is somewhat similar. This is my second go-round with leukemia after a 12 year remission. The initial chemo regimen I recently finished reduced the disease to 1%. My doctors are now contemplating next steps. This could entail supplemental infusions to kill the 1% or a move to a transplant. Happily, I am a much better patient this time. Chemo is not so fearful and I know what it is like to come out on the other side. I was a better man for having endured the first grapple with the disease, I will be a better man still after my second.

19 Year Survivor of ALL
MM2484, my prayers are with you but I want you to be encouraged. When I diagnosed with Acute Lyphoblastic Leukemia I was 19 years old in the prime of college in May 1985. Back then I was a part of a 2% population of people worldwide that would have the option of a BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant). My brother who was 1 year younger & was my perfect donor so when I went into remission with chemo in June 1985 I was preped to have the BMT at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in NY on November 20, 1985. It was a success and I spent only 11 months in and out of the hospital due to my immune system needing to be build itself up and that meant a lot of isolation & few friends in small quantities to visit but I had a lot of family, friends, doctors and extended people that also helped along the way. When I finaly got out of the hospital, they did not have the internet to network with other people that was survivors and the only post-treatment groups they had were basic seminars for people like myself that need more support after treatment to deal with normal reactions after surviving ALL and a BMT. Some of these symptoms were basic fatiques, learning to walk before you run, questions or dating, living on your own or fears of the coming out of remission. You were a pioneer back them but you did what you could by working with others to tell your story to encourage them and to also help you through your own recovering. It's been 19 years as a survivor and I have had the opportunity to work like the average person to earn a living, live on my own and finish school part-time while I worked. Because of the amount of total radition I was exposed to I only have a 2% chance to have children so it was giving up a future life to save mine own. Treatments back then were more aggressive and because of that you have other chronic condition like enhanced allergies. However, it did not stop me from having a life. I was a very positive person and kept perservering on with a lot of Faith. Some things go way beyond doctors after you make a treatment choice and it's important to find peace regardless of the challenge. I can say that because of cases like mine, hemotology/oncology doctors have learned how to practice treatments so much better and with the advancement in technologies treating ALL patience, they have an 89% survival rate then the 2% back in 1985. I am 43 years old and I still live on my own and consider myself a proud cancer survivor and wanted to encourage you. you. Keep me posted on your progress, stay positive and know that support is here if you have any question or simply want to talk via email. You can do this but be patient, take small steps and look for others to help you make choices that are comfortable for you.

sunrise4vic said:

19 Year Survivor of ALL
MM2484, my prayers are with you but I want you to be encouraged. When I diagnosed with Acute Lyphoblastic Leukemia I was 19 years old in the prime of college in May 1985. Back then I was a part of a 2% population of people worldwide that would have the option of a BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant). My brother who was 1 year younger & was my perfect donor so when I went into remission with chemo in June 1985 I was preped to have the BMT at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in NY on November 20, 1985. It was a success and I spent only 11 months in and out of the hospital due to my immune system needing to be build itself up and that meant a lot of isolation & few friends in small quantities to visit but I had a lot of family, friends, doctors and extended people that also helped along the way. When I finaly got out of the hospital, they did not have the internet to network with other people that was survivors and the only post-treatment groups they had were basic seminars for people like myself that need more support after treatment to deal with normal reactions after surviving ALL and a BMT. Some of these symptoms were basic fatiques, learning to walk before you run, questions or dating, living on your own or fears of the coming out of remission. You were a pioneer back them but you did what you could by working with others to tell your story to encourage them and to also help you through your own recovering. It's been 19 years as a survivor and I have had the opportunity to work like the average person to earn a living, live on my own and finish school part-time while I worked. Because of the amount of total radition I was exposed to I only have a 2% chance to have children so it was giving up a future life to save mine own. Treatments back then were more aggressive and because of that you have other chronic condition like enhanced allergies. However, it did not stop me from having a life. I was a very positive person and kept perservering on with a lot of Faith. Some things go way beyond doctors after you make a treatment choice and it's important to find peace regardless of the challenge. I can say that because of cases like mine, hemotology/oncology doctors have learned how to practice treatments so much better and with the advancement in technologies treating ALL patience, they have an 89% survival rate then the 2% back in 1985. I am 43 years old and I still live on my own and consider myself a proud cancer survivor and wanted to encourage you. you. Keep me posted on your progress, stay positive and know that support is here if you have any question or simply want to talk via email. You can do this but be patient, take small steps and look for others to help you make choices that are comfortable for you.

Where only a week apart mm2484
Mike was DX with ALL 8/21/2008 I have been thru 11 cycles of chemo CHOP and am getting a bmb next Thursday. I hope it comes back clean (i had enough) and its been a rough year for me, you'll make it mike

mmike2484 said:

great news
First of all, thank you for the prayers. I did find out on April 3, 2009 that I went into remission, .9% cancer cells. Below 5% is normal. Yea, this made me so happy. Right now I’m in Seattle, 1700 miles away from home, getting tested for the bone marrow transplant. Luckily my sister was a match and as long as I don’t get an infection I should be good to go. The staff at scca is really professional and experienced. I couldn’t have found a better place for my transplant. I also just turned 25 on the 24th of this month. Going into remission has been the best present in my life. DDP, hope that your wife is doing good now. If you need any help or have any questions that I might be able to answer, don’t hesitate to ask me. As for me, I’m doing great. Just waiting to go through my transplant, which I hear is going to be tough. But luckily I have a beautiful gf here to help me through this. I just need to tough it out and get through the first few 100 days after the transplant.

similar situation
Hello All,
My son is 22 years old and started on the Linker protocol, but two weeks later was switched to the Hyper CVAD (actually CEAD) protocol. He has been in hosp for 1 month and is almost in remission. He is suppose to get the Omaya reservoir and cranial radiation. I hope that if anyone out there is in similar situation please contact me at mendoza1922@yahoo.com. He is having problems with nosebleeds and facial pain. I hope and pray things go smoothly, but I have no idea what to expect.