Margaret Marcinkowski - NSH BMT/Leukemia Patient
Diagnosis:
While I was in the hospital for my induction treatment, my three siblings were tested to see if they would be a positive bone marrow match in the event I was able to have a bone marrow transplant. A transplant was the only real cure as a relapse was fairly certain given my prognosis. My younger brother qualified to be a donor for me, provided I got through the treatment ahead.
Following the chemotherapy treatment, the doctors were very positive with me after my disease started to disappear. I started to glimpse at the possibility that I may get to go home soon.
When they told me I could go home four weeks after I was admitted, I cried. I was still exhausted, but I started to feel like I might survive this experience. Although the chemotherapy treatments were very difficult, I was eager to finish this up and get straight to the transplant.
Recovery
Recovery over the next year was a slow but steady climb back to health. I gradually had less and less need for transfusions, infusions of potassium and magnesium, and felt better and better. I walked with my brother in a Run for Leukemia six months after the transplant. Eventually, I was one year post transplant and felt about 90% of the way to normal. I don’t think I felt 100% myself physically for about 18-24 months.
Words of Wisdom
Doing laundry, making dinner for my children, watching them play, and being with my family was never as wonderful as it became after my diagnosis. I still look at the people I love and the sky outside and feel so incredible. I don’t know why I got to survive this deadly disease but I appreciate it completely. If you have to experience such difficult treatment, be sure to surround yourself with people you trust and keep yourself hopeful. The feeling of hope will keep your point of view positive and this is important to finding happiness during your experience.
Looking Forward
It has been 17 years since I was diagnosed with AML and went through all the treatment. I can never fully thank all the nurses, doctors, hospital staff and family and friends who carried me through this experience. But I think of them all frequently still. The doctors were beyond brilliant. The nurses were engaged, intelligent, and phenomenal at stopping problems before they could happen. From the tech who checked my blood pressure machine in the middle of the night and told me she was praying for me, to the pharmacy tech who told me he said a prayer whenever he prepared the chemo for infusion. They all had a hand in my recovery and I think of them and the goodness that surrounded me.
Margaret Marcinkowski: NSH BMT/Leukemia Patient
