The biopsy...

May 29^th

Today was the day! I had a biopsy scheduled for today. I wake up in a good mood. At this point, I am not sure whether God has covered me or I am in complete denial. But I am happy. My appointment was scheduled for 10 a.m. I woke up like normal, got the kids ready for camp, and was on my merry way. Theo woke up early; he had to be at work to finish some last minute stuff but agreed to be there. My mom and my sister-in-law meet me, and we all carpooled together. The conversion was great. Once we got there, I signed in and everything went from there. Theo got there to walk me up to the procedure room. Everyone was really friendly and made me feel comfortable. Theo said the warmest prayer and I was on my way back. The anesthesiologist asked me to count to three but I barely made it to two. Before I knew it, the biopsy was complete. At first, there was a lot of blood. But it finally clotted. The neonatal care lady came up to check the baby’s heartbeat, it was at 162. The team felt the procedure went very well and sent me on the way. Now, I have to wait for results. This time frame seemed to take forever but the call came after a few days. It was not what I wanted to hear! It was finally truly confirmed that I ‘Donita Terry’ have cancer. Or like my husband would say, “A blood disorder.” Ok, so now that I know I have cancer, let me tell you more about it. I was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. A chronic condition is a human health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects. The term chronic is usually applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months. Chronic myelogenous leukemia is cancer that starts inside bone marrow, the soft tissue inside bones that helps form blood cells. CML is the rapid growth of immature cells that make a certain type of white blood cell. Such cells are found in the bone marrow, blood, and other body tissues. The chronic phase can last for months or years. The disease may have few or no symptoms during this time. Most people are diagnosed during this stage, when they are having blood tests done for other reasons. CML most often occurs in middle-aged adults and in children.