Hi Lee - Thanks for all of the additional information you've provided. I can see how you would find life pretty uncomfortable and that's really unfortunate. I'm someone who grew up in three countries, and lived in all sections of the US. People in some places were friendly, some were not, and some had very different values. The common denominator was me, and I learned to make friends easily at an early age. What has helped me is to look for people who have some of the same things in common - it's more interesting that way, and it breaks down barriers more quickly. I've also found it helpful to meet people through online social networking sites and get to know them a bit before meeting them in person. I'm not personally familiar with Brisbane so can't make any recommendations on how to meet people there, but surely there must be others there from your home country, and perhaps they have some kind of association or social group.
Let's get back to your fever. A fever can be caused by many things, and really isn't the first thing that comes to mind in someone with cancer. Looking up information online can be very confusing and misleading. You're on the right path in getting the initial blood work done and then following up with the infectious disease specialist. You may have to see more specialists. It may take a while to get an answer. In the meantime it's important to keep working, keep going forward and keep living your life. Worrying about the unknown tends to go in a circular pattern where a whole lot of time goes into worrying, the worries mount up and get worse, anxiety builds up and a person feels worse than they did in the first place, with nothing really accomplished. Do you understand what I mean? Does this make sense?
You asked how I'm able to deal with my leukemia diagnosis. If I had to boil it down to basics I would say that I learned how to advocate for and manage my own health more than 20 years ago when I had just moved to a new state and was diagnosed with breast cancer and had no friends, doctors or support. You can read more about that in my EmpowHer profile. https://www.empowher.com/users/pat-elliott
As far as the leukemia, there were no symptoms except for some swelling in the feet after I had stood up to give a presentation for two hours. I had a blood test as a proactive measure since edema (blood pooling in the feet, making them swell) can indicate organ failure. The type of leukemia I have is a chronic form which is treatable. I have educated myself about this condition and joined online support groups and have taken multiple measures to manage all of the life changes that have come with this. I'm surprised by friends who say they would fall apart with a diagnosis like this - we humans are very strong and we are able to be a lot stronger than we know when we are truly tested. I see it each and every day in other patients who have far more debilitating conditions than I do.
I'd like to recommend a website focused on patient empowerment that I think will help you - http://www.empoweredpatientcoalition.org/ There's a lot of very helpful information in this site to support taking charge of your health and your role in the medical diagnosis, treatment and recovery process. Let me know what you think. Let me know also if you're taking steps to eat well and get good nutrition as you go through this process so you can stay as strong as possible. There are a lot of positive steps you can take, and I hope what I've written will be helpful to you in doing so. Take care, Pat
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Hi Lee - Thanks for all of the additional information you've provided. I can see how you would find life pretty uncomfortable and that's really unfortunate. I'm someone who grew up in three countries, and lived in all sections of the US. People in some places were friendly, some were not, and some had very different values. The common denominator was me, and I learned to make friends easily at an early age. What has helped me is to look for people who have some of the same things in common - it's more interesting that way, and it breaks down barriers more quickly. I've also found it helpful to meet people through online social networking sites and get to know them a bit before meeting them in person. I'm not personally familiar with Brisbane so can't make any recommendations on how to meet people there, but surely there must be others there from your home country, and perhaps they have some kind of association or social group.
Let's get back to your fever. A fever can be caused by many things, and really isn't the first thing that comes to mind in someone with cancer. Looking up information online can be very confusing and misleading. You're on the right path in getting the initial blood work done and then following up with the infectious disease specialist. You may have to see more specialists. It may take a while to get an answer. In the meantime it's important to keep working, keep going forward and keep living your life. Worrying about the unknown tends to go in a circular pattern where a whole lot of time goes into worrying, the worries mount up and get worse, anxiety builds up and a person feels worse than they did in the first place, with nothing really accomplished. Do you understand what I mean? Does this make sense?
You asked how I'm able to deal with my leukemia diagnosis. If I had to boil it down to basics I would say that I learned how to advocate for and manage my own health more than 20 years ago when I had just moved to a new state and was diagnosed with breast cancer and had no friends, doctors or support. You can read more about that in my EmpowHer profile. https://www.empowher.com/users/pat-elliott
As far as the leukemia, there were no symptoms except for some swelling in the feet after I had stood up to give a presentation for two hours. I had a blood test as a proactive measure since edema (blood pooling in the feet, making them swell) can indicate organ failure. The type of leukemia I have is a chronic form which is treatable. I have educated myself about this condition and joined online support groups and have taken multiple measures to manage all of the life changes that have come with this. I'm surprised by friends who say they would fall apart with a diagnosis like this - we humans are very strong and we are able to be a lot stronger than we know when we are truly tested. I see it each and every day in other patients who have far more debilitating conditions than I do.
I'd like to recommend a website focused on patient empowerment that I think will help you - http://www.empoweredpatientcoalition.org/ There's a lot of very helpful information in this site to support taking charge of your health and your role in the medical diagnosis, treatment and recovery process. Let me know what you think. Let me know also if you're taking steps to eat well and get good nutrition as you go through this process so you can stay as strong as possible. There are a lot of positive steps you can take, and I hope what I've written will be helpful to you in doing so. Take care, Pat
March 1, 2010 - 6:16pmThis Comment
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