My Plan

I am currently being treated at the California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) in the Pediatric Department in San Francisco, California for AML. The treatment begins with a spinal tap that releases chemotherapy into my spine. Following that, I receive three different kinds of chemotherapy that will affect my bone marrow. One type of chemotherapy is called Ara-C, which I receive every 12 hours for the given time frame. The other two are called Etopocide and Daunorubicin that I get every other day. I get Zofran in between these medications, which helps with the naeseous feeling. The treatment ends with a lumbar puncture and a bone marrow aspiration to see how my bone marrow recovered.

I have to live at the hospital for the duration of my treatment, which will be a little longer than six months, and have a very loud air purifier turned on the entire day to keep the air fresh. I have to stay at the hospital because my immune system drops to basically nothing, and can easily get sick. I am able to leave the hospital for a couple of days, no longer than a week, when my immune system is stronger to work on its own. However, even though I get to go out, I am still limited to what I eat, wear, and the places I can go. It's bad enough that I'm bald, but I have to wear a mask when I'm in crowded areas.

I hope that after these months of treatment are completed, I will be healed. But if worse come to worse and I relapse, I, thankfully, have two brothers that are bone marrow matches. The scary thing about that is having to go through total body radiation, the actual procedure itself, and the possibility of being infertile. =/

However, I'm keeping high hopes for the best, especially with my family and friends supporting me.