The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Several years ago I received a packet in the mail asking me to be the neighborhood volunteer to assist this society in fundraising. I agreed even though I don't like asking people for money. I guess I was chosen randomly by some computer. I never dreamed that someday I, too, would have a blood cancer myself. In 2008 I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that affects bones. Now, looking back, I realize that it was no coincidence. There are no coincidences with God.

Here is some of the information I would like to share with you:

Every 10 minutes a child or adult is expected to die from blood cancers. And leukemia remains the leading cause of death among children unfortunately.

You can get information for patient services, research updates, educational materials and more at www.LLS.org if you know someone with leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma.

Recognize the potential signs and symptoms of leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma:
-unexplained anemia
-Excessive bleeding
-chronic fatigue
-recurrent fever
-unexplained back or bone pain
-pain in joints or bones
-recurrent infection
-swelling of lymph nodes
-weakness
-easy bruising

THE GOOD NEWS:
Overall survival rates for blood cancer patients have increased two to four fold over the past 40 years. I was told that if I had been diagnosed just 10 years ago I would have been lucky to live 6 months. So, I am eternally thankful for this organization's work and God's grace.

89% of children under 15 with the most common childhood leukemia--acute lymphocytic leukemia--will survive with treatment.

In the past decade, several important new drugs and new uses for existing drugs have greatly improved cure rates or remission duration for some patients.

The C Word

The 2008 year was a tough one for us. I was in such intense pain. I could not sit down without it feeling like I was sitting on a sharp knife. I could barely walk and, in time, my left leg would not work at all. One doctor told me I had a fracture. Another told me I had something else. Then, one day in August I went to the emergency room and a doctor I had never met before in my life came in and told me in heavily accented English that I had multiple myeloma cancer. He said I had a mass on my left hip the size of a football. He told me this in the same manner he would have told me where the womens' restroom was. To say I was devastated would be an understatement. I was in pure shock. I NEVER thought I would get cancer. I guess we all think that, don't we? But somebody has to make up those statistics.

The cancer destroyed a bone in my hip. Some physicians thought I wouldn't walk again. I made the decision that I wouldn't read about my cancer. I didn't want to know what awful things it could do to my body. I didn't want anyone to tell me about my cancer. I decided just to talk to God and to read the Bible. The only information and words I was interested in was what He says. I knew my cancer was incurable (but they are getting closer each day :-)!) and I could tell by the looks I got from those who came into my hospital room that things looked bad. In the worldly sense, I was behind the eight ball. I spent two months in the hospital totally bed bound with 10 days of that in intensive care. Although the physical pain was something that still to this day amazes me that I made it through, the mental pain was on a level that I had never experienced before. When you are stuck in a bed with your pain and your thoughts it is a battlefield of near torture. One moment you think you may die and the next you have hope again. For me and my family this was a time of going to hell and back. But we made it through. God never left my side. So many things happened along the way that only God could have orchestrated. He was so loving, so kind, and so faithful.

Yes, my life does run over as many of ours does. It runs over with stress, clutter, fear, but my life runneth over with the love and devotion of my faithful Father. Just remember, there's nowhere and no place and no time that He isn't there.