The Begining

Well this is the first of many I guess. Forgive me for the bad writing and mistakes as I have never done this before and quite honestly it is not in my nature to have a diary or record my thoughts for all to see...

But, I think right now this will give me something to do and keep track of how I am doing.

I was diagnosed with Hairy Cell Leukemia on March 4Th 2008 at 1:00 pm. To date I am still trying to figure out what it means!

It all started in early January when my wife suggested I get a full physical examination. I thought why not, it had been over two years since my last one and I am going with my son to a Boyscout High Adventure outing in at the end of June. The High Adventure program requires a detailed health history and physical exam in order to participate.

When I left the doctors office that day I was feeling and happy to have gotten that done. One week later I get a letter from my doctor with all my blood work. Along with that letter was a note stating he had noticed "slightly" low white count (3.7) and a low platelet count (80,000).

I talk to him over the phone and he thought it would be a good idea to see a Hematologist in order to be sure nothing major was going on.

The first blood I did with the Hematologist showed the same results. He did an exam to see if he could feel my spleen. He felt nothing but because of my age, he wanted to be sure everything was OK, so he ordered an Ultra Sound.

Surprise, I had a "slightly" enlarged spleen, about 2cm larger than normal. Doctor was surprised but said no big deal. My next blood work showed again 70,000 platelet count and a white again of 3.7.

He thought there might be a slight possibility of Lymphoma in my spleen so he ordered a CT scan to double check.

The results were negative. When I went in for my next office visit, my white count dropped to 3.5 but my platelet count was up to 117,000.

We finally decided to do a Bone Marrow Biopsy just to be sure nothing major was going on.

I have to say that I under estimated the whole Bone Marrow Biopsy experience. It SUCKED!! The Doctor said it was tough because I have very dense bone! I took that to mean I couldn't possibly have anything wrong!!

A week later my Doctor stood in front of me with a look of amazement as he told me I had a very rare form of Leukemia called Hairy Cell Leukemia.

I swear, I almost started laughing!! It figures, I cant win the lottery but I can get a disease with worse odds than the Lottery. No, I have yet to buy a ticket.

Well, he told me not worry and that if I had to get Leukemia, HCL is the one to get as it is manageable and wont shorten my life span.


That brings me to today- Saturday March 8th...

More to come as I learn as much as I can about what lays ahead.