This week I'm grateful for...

Two weeks ago I went for a blood test because I was feeling a bit more tired than usual and wanted to get my iron levels and thryoid checked as I try to do every couple of years due to past problems with iron levels and family history of thyroid conditions.  The doctor phoned me two days after that to get me in for the results as soon as I could get there that day, so I knew something was up.  I wasn't expecting anything major, perhaps my thyroid was underactive, maybe I had very low iron levels.  But the doctor gave me Very Big Unexpected News instead - my white blood cell count was at 73,000 and normal levels are 11,000.  They suspected Leukaemia.  I was sent straight to see a Haemotologist the next day and more blood tests two days after that and a bone marrow biopsy earlier this week.  When I went in for the biopsy the haemotologist told me the blood tests had confirmed it.  I have Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML).. 

It's all been a bit of a whirlwind couple of weeks for me and my head space is only just starting to function normally.  Wednesday I was very down and flat (results and bone marrow biopsy the day before) but yesterday and today I have felt much happier and more normal.  I feel that I am coping quite well considering.  There have only been two or three small lots of tears, and no ranting or raving.  There has been some quiet time, lots of discussions with my partner, long chats with family and close friends.  There have been some flat days and days that are a bit of a blur but I have my results now and I'm not left hanging for weeks, and medication doesn't start for another week or two so life is continuing as normal for now.  My last patch of pre-Leukaemia life, before everything else starts and things change while I get used to the medication and any side effects that come with it.  I'm trying to make the most of it!

So the grateful awards this week are going to...

... having the 'good' Leukaemia which is manageable by tablets which, if they work as they are supposed to, means I can lead a pretty much normal life and should prevent it from developing into a more severe form of Leukaemia which requires chemotherapy.

... modern day medicine and the advances they are making every day.  The medication I will be taking for the rest of my life to control my white blood cells has only been available since 2000.  It has increased the life expectancy of people with my disease enormously.  I am very very thankful for this.

... my partner, who will probably from now on be known as My Rock (MR), who is continuing his very high levels of support and unflappability in the face of some scary news.

... things not being as bad as TV makes them out to be.  Bone marrow biopsies look really scary and incredibly painful on Grey's Anatomy.  They are not too bad and they give you good forgetful unconcerned-making drugs in real life.

... all the people around me who have needed to know - work, family, close friends.  Lots of support and ears to talk to.

In other, everyday life, I am also grateful for it being the weekend, finally!  For cleaners coming to clean our house tomorrow so that I don't have to (although, I do have to pay them but it is well worth not having to do it myself), for a quiet weekend planned, with a trip to the hairdressers, a new couch being delivered and a stack of books waiting to be read whilst snuggling down in its new cushionyness and for my sister coming over tomorrow to help me do some more unpacking.

Many more grateful hits over at Maxabella's