Curveball...

    My family was awaiting the preliminary results from my lumbar puncture. I'm sure that subconsciously I was too but I was on so many meds and painkillers to seem to care. Dr.Seftal was right. I now had one more thing to add to my growing list of problems... Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in my central nervous system. Let's recap what has been going on so far with me; 3 brain bleeds, intracranial pressure that is through the roof, pneumonia, blood infection, double vision, massive headaches, nausea and vomiting, and now two types of cancer. APL in my bone marrow and blood, and now AML in my spinal fluid and brain. How much can the human body endure? I think I was the ultimate test.
    The doctors had to rethink their plan of action now that they had this new curveball thrown at them. This is extremely rare. Like I had mentioned previously; 1 of 500 cases in the entire world! The doctors would not be having a restful night tonight. They spent the night researching treatments and prognosis. I have now been sedated enough to be able to sleep through the night and let my body rest. I'm going to need all my energy and strength to beat this!
    It wasn't just the doctors that weren't sleeping that evening. My family had no sleep either. I was only allowed one visitor through the night, and Momma bear won. Dad and Dale were hesitant to leave the hospital not knowing what would happen through the night. They would be the first ones waiting at the doors to be let in to visit bright and early the next morning.
    My family anxiously awaited the doctors arrival as they made their morning rounds. This would not be like other mornings however. Instead of the doctors meeting in my room, my family was called into a little conference room instead. This is where they were delivered a devastating blow. They had also found two new bleed on the MRI that were exerting extreme pressure on my brain. "Jamie's outlook does not look good. You should let her friends and family in to say their goodbyes." The doctors continued to say that they were going to do all that they could but they did not believe that my body was strong enough to make it through all the treatments that I was going to need. I don't think cancer knew who it was messing with...


    Now for the plan of action. It is now August 20th, 2009. I was given 2 different types of antibiotics, one for the blood infection, one for the pneumonia. I was also given a diuretic to help drain some fluid off my lungs. The doctors realized that the original bleed in my brain was actually a stroke. That would explain why I felt tingles in my toes and hands when I was in the boat. This would also explain my difficulties walking. The new bleed in my brain was also a stroke caused from the ATRA chemo. This caused both of my feet to fall and now both were placed in splints. 
    Since my pressure was so high they needed to do something about this before any permanent damage occurs. They looked at the option of surgery and inserting a shunt in my head. I was not stable enough to make it through such an operation, and my platelets were so low that they feared that would bleed out on the operating table. Scratch that idea. I was given some sort of diuretic to help drain fluid from my head. The pressure was of some concern but not the main issue at this point...