What happens to you after you are diagnosed with leukemia, part 1: symptoms

Hi everyone... the next few post will be for new readers, and maybe potentially old readers.. i'm going to describe the whole process of getting something like this... (for all intense and purposes this will be my account of my experience and what I've learned and heard from doctors and patients)

The most common symptoms of leukemia are the following: Bleeding, bruising, hives and cold sweats.

Bleeding could be pretty much from any orifice (this word took forever to find out how to spell)... most likely the nose. My wife has read a blog where someone bleed from his gums. I did not have this particular symptom.

The appearance of the bruising looks like what a normal bruise would look like but in the form of a 'splatter' around the area... like a rash-looking-bruise... imagine you take a dark-color-purple-paint on a paint brush and flick it on your skin... that's what it would look like. It's worth mentioning that when I say bruising I mean ' bruising easily', which in turn means if some one taps you on the arm or leg and you bruise... or in my case when blood was drawn the first time. The first few second after poking me I had a 'splatter-looking' bruise around the area she drew blood. Then in the hospital I had bruises just from lying down.

My hives appeared around the joints. Initially around the ankles and then the hips and around my knees and shoulders. They would come and go. It's seems that heating those area would bring up the flare. My reaction looked like a giant mosquito bite. Initially it would be small (you could easily mistake it for a insect bit) but the more I itched the larger it became.

Cold sweats are not just sweating in bed. My experience was that I would wake up in the middle of the night with the soak shirt I slept in. You could literally ring it out and it would be like you had it under the sink for a while.

For people who have questions, need clarification or what to comment, please don't forget the comment section. I will also use that section to answer questions.

(ok my wife has stopped studying... till next time.)

20 mins and money money money

ok so i got 20 mins before my wife comes out of the room from writing a paper..... and thats when we can eat the cream puffs i've just made.....im using them to bribe her into finishing her school work.....ok she made the batter but im the one baking them so lets just say that i made them ok :)

anyway one thing I've been thinking about writing about is the financial stress that comes along with this disease... its just something that you dont really think about when they tell you you have cancer...

so lets follow the 'money trail' shall we?

lets just say you're working and then BAM you've got cancer...how do you pay for things?

well its obvious that you cant work so in my case i ended applying for disability...what is disability? well thank god for canada because its basically an allowance (determined by the government) that helps to pay for things like food and rent....its really been helpful because i cant imagine worrying about money when i'm sick....cc is weird because it doesnt just mean that you got dealt a pretty crappy card but its something that stays with you forever....seriously its forever, and i dont want to scare anyone who knows someone with cc or even someone whos just been diagnosed but I just think its important to come to terms with the whole picture. In the end its not just a sickness that knocks you down for a year or three in my case haha. It changes everything..

My wife and I are always talking about where we want to live when we finish school and it changes depending on our mood....one day its somewhere in africa (my wife grew up in kenya and i've always wanted to go back....i went once....this is a bit of a side note but my wife and i met each other when we were younger....i think she was 10...i was turning 13...we dont remember it but our mothers do haha)....

anyway then its somewhere in Asia.....right now Shahrzads obsessed with living in the outskirts of Xin Jiang on a small farm with horses...i think shes just tired of living in north america in general... anyway ever since cc we've had this lingering thought of money.....what would happen if i relapsed in another country? how the hell would we pay for all the meds, hospital stays e.t.c...we'd be broke. So its just something that has, in a way, created some barriers for us...we havent let it stop us from dreaming about the future but its definitely put a dent in the freedom feeling of it all....

In the end i KNOW we wont live in north america forever....or better said we cant....i think we'd go crazy...so if theres the thought that my physical health would be at risk out of canada....our mental health is definitely at risk if we dont leave. I dont meant to offend anyone who loves living here...to each his own.....but my wife and I miss our homes...

I miss the food... breakfast food especially.....its called jian bing guo ze...its amazing...it tastes like china...hahah...shahrzad thought it tasted really bitter but i think its because shes not a breakfast person anyway so her opinion doesn't really count ;)

i miss the taxi drivers....they are the best people to have random conversations with trust me.....i miss knowing everything about where i live.....me and shahrzad have moved so much.....shahrzad more than i....but i know she feels this too...we miss that feeling of belonging and no matter how long we've lived here we just dont feel likes its home.

anyway this post is becoming a bit of a rant .....but i starting writing this because i wanted to show my appreciation for the things i dont have to worry about anymore.

Im grateful that im with a person who feels the same way about a country that isnt really our own.....nobody would look at me and think im from china and no one would look at her and think shes african... its funny actually...we're sort of homeless haha.

Im grateful that im still in remission...i can run again.....and i can lift heavy things again ( i picked up the air conditioner that I had to get my brother in law Nabil to lift for me last year...man i must have been weak cause it was so light haha)

and lastly im SO grateful for my family...and since this post is sort of about money I just wanted to thank my parents, siblings, uncles and aunts for helping us financially.

I love you guys and thanks for everything....

'bloggers-block'

i have nothing to say!!!

update

ok ok.. due to requests I think there may be a need for an update...

First, I'm starting to feel much better these days. Second, I think the reason I haven't updated is because I feel like there isn't much to say at the moment.

Right now everything is pretty much the same.

I get chemo. I'm sick. I get better. I go to the gym on good days, and I stay on the couch on bad days. Nothing really new....but im hoping going to the gym will eventually get me stronger to the point where i wont even flinch when i get chemo...im working on some positive thinking haha

The nausea has started to get to me so the doctor prescribed some mary-jane :)

not really...its just a pill that has a synthetic chemical ingredient that weed has. I took it once so far and it definitely helps with the nausea, but it makes me really dizzy and i just ended up passed out for hours. haha

Right now we're are just trying to get our life back together, while cc lingers in the background. The plan is to go to school in the summer and get chemo at the same time, so I have to find the medications that work so that I can make it more bearable. Im tired of being out for days after chemo. so the good news is that this new pill is working great! I don't feel the sick feeling which usually goes on until the next day. so im giving a huge THUMBS UP for my mary jane as a anti nasuea medication.

Anyway the wifey and I have been trying to go to NY since January but chemo and the whole feeling crap part has been getting in the way. We are still trying though. So far the plan is for april before we start summer school so if anyones gonna be in NY around then...let me know and we can meet up.

alright guys...i know this wasnt one of the best posts....forgive me.....the next one will be better

until then hope everyones happy and healthy