Her Cancer Story (completed)

Being Diagnosed

I was first diagnosed about a week after my 7th birthday. My mom was getting a bath ready for me when she saw the excessive bruising on my back. I told her I didn't even know it was there.
So, she brought me to the doctors the next day, thinking it was meningitis or mono.
The doctors decided to take a blood test to make their prognosis and there it was. Under the microscope were huge white blood cells molesting my red cells and platelets.
After further tests and results they diagnosed me with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL).
APL is a subtype of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), a cancer of the white blood cells. In APL, there is an abnormal accumulation of immature granulocytes called promyelocytes. The disease is characterized by a chromosomal translocation involving the retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα or RARA) gene and is distinguished from other forms of AML by its responsiveness to all-trans retinoic acid.
Symptoms and signs include Anemia, Fatigue, Weakness, Difficulty breathing, Low platelets leading to easy bleeding, Fever, Low white blood cells leading to infection, Decreased platelets, white, and red blood cells, and Elevated white blood cells.

This is all what they don't tell you people without Leukemia. Your hair doesn't just "fall off". It starts to shed one to three weeks after starting chemotherapy. Your scalp will steer to feel tender and your more hair will collect in your brushes. Once it's very thin we shave it all of to make a smooth surface. It's very itchy. Not just your head hair falls out. Your eyebrows, eyelashes, armpit, and leg hair is all gone too.
A long while after chemotherapy your hair will start to grow back. But it's not the same. It may be a different color or texture. Thick to thin. Brown to blonde. Smooth to course.
And not just hair loss occurs. Weight loss, fever, infections, shortness of breath, weakness, pain and tenderness, fatigue, loss of appetite, swelling, night sweats, swollen lymph nodes, easy bleeding and bruising, and purplish black or yellow spots and rashes all occur.
Because of a huge loss of appetite, I was immediately put on a feeding tube. It went up my left nostril and snaked down into my stomach. A sore central line was pierced into my breast bone. A short cord with two connecting lines for different medications, blood transfusions, and bone marrow transplants.
When I was 7 I first went through small dosages of chemotherapy for about a month. Then I had radiation. I stayed in remission for about two months until it came back full blown. I was given intensive chemotherapy along with a medication called ATRA. I was very very ill like that until I was about 8 1/2. I never went into remission until I was 11 but I stayed with very small amounts of leukemia in me.
I would go into the hospital every other week (one week in and one week out) for 3 years and that seems to make a huge difference. When I would go in I would be getting dyalasis and ATRA and chemotherapy all sent through my central line tubing.
Once I was 11 I went into remission. My hair grew back, bruising and rashing went away. I felt a lot better. I started going to middle school as one of the smartest kids in my class! It was only until about a week ago that I relapsed...