Chemotherapy Day 4

Love is infectious. Luckily, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) is not.

The support has been overwhelming and I could not be more appreciative given my current situation. However, I’ve come to the conclusion that although there is emotional and spiritual support, not many know exactly what I am going through at the moment and what I have planned for the future. This is completely understandable, so I’ve attempted to explain my diagnosis in a somewhat relatable way.

When you hear Leukemia, Cancer and Chemotherapy, the mind can only grasp hold of familiarities that are present as a result of past experiences and exposure. For example, when I sat in the child-friendly brightly decorated emergency room on Thursday, October 10^th, I didn’t have much to go off of when the Oncologist addressed the possibility of Leukemia, Cancer and Chemotherapy.

Familiarities that my mind immediately drew from:

-          A walk to Remember

-          50/50

-          Breaking Bad

-          My Sister’s Keeper

But as we know, media and pop culture can be misleading (my blog does not fall under this category). So after receiving persistent information about my condition, there are some new familiarities that I now draw from when I hear about my diagnosis:

Leukemia: The type of cells that have taken over my body. I picture them as mindless zombies like from The Walking Dead. Their sole purpose is to kill and infect the living as they senselessly wander about unaware that their fate is threatened by the strength of courageous fighters. I, like Rick Grimes, intend on wiping out each and every walker that dared to threaten the human spirit.

Cancer: according to a handy-dandy information pamphlet given to me by my oncologist, cancer is just a name for a group of diseases. It occurs when the DNA in cells give out the wrong instructions. Cancer cells grow out of control, dividing when they shouldn’t, crowding out normal cells and staying alive way too long. So basically, cancer cells are like the citizens of the Capitol, surrounded by the 12 districts which must undergo the annual Hunger Games. The wealthy people of the Capitol, the cancer cells, slowly begin to impose rules and restrictions that result in a life of suffering for the Districts. They grow out of control, reproducing while the rest of Panem falls deeper into impoverishment; they crowd out the rest of the Districts, abusing their resources and cutting off means of development. But like Katniss Everdeen and the courageous rebels of District 12, my body is leading a revolt against these unwanted cells and the redundant infestation that has no right to claim any sense of power.

Chemotherapy: This, in my case, is an 8-month program where I am to take a combination of several drugs which change monthly; the goal of the program is to completely rid the body of all cancer cells. Major side effects include: loss of hair, weight gain, Nausea, short of breath, etc. I like to think of my chemotherapy as a team, made up of the different drugs that work together to obliterate all other intruders.

Each drug has different attributes that result in the teams’ greater efficiency; I like to relate this team to the three parapsychologists that ruthlessly fought against supernatural crime in the 80s: The Ghostbusters. Each unique contribution of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis all made up the bold, supernatural-fighting group that defeated all threats and overcame each obstacle; as a team.

I am a bit of a movie buff and tend to draw connections from feature films in order to help me understand medical information that, to me is usually quite dry and tedious. I hope this helped you understand a little bit more of what I am going through and how I’m going to fight this. If you have any questions about Leukemia, Cancer, Chemotherapy, etc, here are some fantastic websites that probably make my attempt at explaining seem quite pathetic.

www.curesearch.org

www.stjude.org

Keeping in touch with my artsy-fartsy side as I continue to breed optimism,

-          Serena Bonneville :)