Cancer, a word hated by so many...

(These next few posts aren't from my memory. My family has had to fill in these gaps for me because at this time I was in the induced coma.)

    The doctor had my Mom, Dad and Dale come into the room to give them the results of all the tests. My doctor's name is Dr. Rubinger, he has been my primary oncologist since day one. According to my Mom, his exact words were "your little girl is very, very sick."
    The next words were probably the last thing they expected to hear from his mouth. "Jamie has Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)**"
    I'm sure their exact thoughts were "What the hell, she was always so healthy and athletic!" After they heard the word leukemia the rest of the conversation was a blur. Some mention of treatments, some mention of seriousness blah blah blah... none of that mattered at that point. They knew their daughter and sister had cancer. She wasn't supposed to have that, that's an older person's disease, she's supposed to be so healthy. 
    Once the initial shock wore off it was time to get some information. How bad was it? What's the next step? Stuff that Dr. Rubinger had mentioned in the first conversation but hadn't yet sunk in at that point. There were so many questions to be answered but the fact was that no one had the answers yet, not even the doctors.
    My cancer type was so rare, 1 of 500 cases in the ENTIRE WORLD! I should have bought a lottery ticket...
    Since I was such a rare case, the doctors had no idea where to start. What treatments, which type of chemo, what dose, how aggressive? Every oncologist at Cancercare Manitoba knew of my case as they all had been asked if they had any clue where to start. No answers there. Next step is to consult with a larger hospital, the Mayo Clinic. No answers there. Next step, China. That's where my treatment plan came from. (I still need to send a thankyou card to China.)
   While all this consulting was going on, my family had to sit back and watch as my condition worsened by the hour. This would be around the 3rd day in the hospital. My treatment needed to start immediately...
   


**Acute leukemias start suddenly, developing within days or weeks. The number of leukemia cells in the blood can rise very fast and the blood cannot do its job. Acute leukemias get worse quickly and need to be treated right away.

    The doctors were unsure how long I had been sick for. I was compensating very well. I had all the classic signs and symptoms for months, years even and never thought twice about it. I was constantly tired, even through my high school years. Most days I couldn't make it through the day without a nap. I just thought I was lazy haha. My family doctor told me I was anemic but didn't do any further tests, only checking my iron levels when I had blood tests. I also had lots of bruising. I just thought they were bad bruises from hockey, and never thought they were of any concern.
   I was somewhat suspicious the morning that I was hospitalized. I woke up with a massive bruise on the back of my thigh that was so dark. The evening prior I had got hit there by a frisbee and it left that large of a bruise. I thought that was kind of odd. My suspicions really meant something at that point!**