I haven't updated on my health as I have tried to ignore my nemesis leukemia during the celebrating of Christmas. The trees are down, the gifts are unwrapped, and leukemia is back, stomping its foot and rearing its ugly head, demanding my attention once again.
I had blood drawn today and I absolutely, utterly failed my test! If you know me well, you know that I do not take kindly to failing anything - I am a perfectionist and over-achiever! On today's CBC there were 10 categories of testing and all ten were abnormal. That would be a sort of perfection, wouldn't it? Perfectly horrible!
I am neutropenic again. I have spent the bulk of 2009 with prolonged, chronic neutropenia (low counts of neutrophils, a category of white cells that are vital for fighting infection, especially bacterial infections). It doesn't require a brain surgeon to know what this is representative of a failing bone marrow that is no longer functioning and sustaining my life without medical intervention, in the form of Neupogen injections. I can go about 4-5 days and then I require another injection. I know these injections are contributing to the other sources of the severe bone pain that I am experiencing. Another needle, another day.
I realized that I had not updated after the MRI's and x-rays before Christmas. The chest x-ray was clear for infection and leukemic infiltrates. That is a praise! I experienced a true Christmas miracle in that I was able to complete the MRI's. I am very claustrophobic and can allow doctors to prod my bone marrow with 12 inch needles without sedation, but a painless scan forces shivers down my spine.
I took my praise and worship CD and the technician was a Christian with an IPOD full of Christian music by my favorite artists. She played that for me and talked me through both MRI's - they took over an hour and I kept looking back over the top of my head and could see the ceiling tile grids - they formed a perfect cross over the top of me. I kept telling myself if Jesus could and would hang on a cross for me, surely I could survive the MRI, with His help. And I did!
There were no fractures in the hip structure (due to chronic steroid use). The signals in the marrow were altered and my NIH leukemia specialist suspects that this is caused by the marrow being so impacted by leukemia that the normal fat or hematopoietic (blood forming) cells are not producing normal marrow signals. The NIH is going to review these MRI films and reports to offer us more information.
The MRI on my lower back revealed complete loss of bone marrow signal intensity. If my bones are this impacted by the leukemia, no wonder I am in such pain. Three herniated discs are also contributing to my pain concerns. The radiologist did not feel the discs were such that steroid injections into the nerve roots would be beneficial for me, so that pain relief option is off the table.
Please pray for 2010 to bring me another year of life, no matter the battles I must face and fight. Please pray for God to be merciful and to hear our cries to protect me from life-threatening infections and bone marrow failure.
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