An odd diagnosis
Many small towns have a stretch of highway leading into them where they drop the speed limit down to 35 about 2 miles out of town. Folks approaching town generally heed these as welcoming gestures to slow down and safely observe the upcoming town. Folks, like me, who are leaving town might see this stretch of open highway as a clue that it’s time to get up to highway speed. This was the case in Southern Utah as my friend, Sue, and I were making a sort of bucket list trip to the Grand Canyon.
This was bucket list for Sue, since I’d been to the canyon a few times. Sue was in about the sixth year of her breast cancer diagnosis (which had given her a five year life expectancy). Since she was suffering from some brittle bones, she had her crutches next to her. As the cop pulled me over I almost suggested to her that she might move her crutches to have them more prominently displayed for the officer. Sue, being far more gregarious than me, had a nice chat with the officer, inquiring as to places to stay in the next few towns. He let the speeding slide.
We had to be in Flagstaff the next day to pick up her new regimen of oral chemo meds and we got to the Grand Canyon shortly after that. I suggested that we stop at an overlook on the way to the lodge, but she was exhausted and had to check in and nap as soon as possible. It was a great trip, and I think she enjoyed the Utah scenery even more than the canyon.
Sue and I had the same General Practitioner as our physician, since she had recommend Dr. Medina to me when my guy retired. Sue entered hospice around the time that I had my annual physical and passed away a couple days before my second round of blood tests came through and Dr. Medina gave me my diagnosis of monoclonal b cell lymphocytosis. This condition tends to lead to CLL, or Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Well, you are just drawn to the word leukemia. How could you not be? To bring some symmetry to the situation, Dr Medina referred me to Sue’s oncologist who met with me, confirmed the diagnosis, informed me that I was much more likely to die eventually of something other than CLL, unless I didn’t, and then I would. But, it is from all I’ve read, not a dire diagnosis which is proved by the fact that I only need to be seen twice a year at this point.
Since the progression of the disease is (usually) slow, I may be asymptomatic for quite a while; though, as you might imagine, the condition does creep into my thoughts from time to time. It is nice having the same oncologist as Sue (though, perhaps I’ll call him a hematologist until I get an official CLL diagnosis). The one great thing was getting to hear him describe his admiration for how Sue accepted and lived with her diagnosis and how she was always putting forth a positive spirit in all of their meetings. Keep smiling down on us, Sue.
This was bucket list for Sue, since I’d been to the canyon a few times. Sue was in about the sixth year of her breast cancer diagnosis (which had given her a five year life expectancy). Since she was suffering from some brittle bones, she had her crutches next to her. As the cop pulled me over I almost suggested to her that she might move her crutches to have them more prominently displayed for the officer. Sue, being far more gregarious than me, had a nice chat with the officer, inquiring as to places to stay in the next few towns. He let the speeding slide.
We had to be in Flagstaff the next day to pick up her new regimen of oral chemo meds and we got to the Grand Canyon shortly after that. I suggested that we stop at an overlook on the way to the lodge, but she was exhausted and had to check in and nap as soon as possible. It was a great trip, and I think she enjoyed the Utah scenery even more than the canyon.
Sue and I had the same General Practitioner as our physician, since she had recommend Dr. Medina to me when my guy retired. Sue entered hospice around the time that I had my annual physical and passed away a couple days before my second round of blood tests came through and Dr. Medina gave me my diagnosis of monoclonal b cell lymphocytosis. This condition tends to lead to CLL, or Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Well, you are just drawn to the word leukemia. How could you not be? To bring some symmetry to the situation, Dr Medina referred me to Sue’s oncologist who met with me, confirmed the diagnosis, informed me that I was much more likely to die eventually of something other than CLL, unless I didn’t, and then I would. But, it is from all I’ve read, not a dire diagnosis which is proved by the fact that I only need to be seen twice a year at this point.
Since the progression of the disease is (usually) slow, I may be asymptomatic for quite a while; though, as you might imagine, the condition does creep into my thoughts from time to time. It is nice having the same oncologist as Sue (though, perhaps I’ll call him a hematologist until I get an official CLL diagnosis). The one great thing was getting to hear him describe his admiration for how Sue accepted and lived with her diagnosis and how she was always putting forth a positive spirit in all of their meetings. Keep smiling down on us, Sue.