In April 2006, as I just turned 25, I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia type 2 after experiencing extreme fatigue, very pale skin and unusual loss of weight. I was definitely not prepared for that, as I was a young man starting his new job and getting in a very new relationship.
The situation was so serious, my life was so at risk that I had to start my chemo ASAP; I was admitted at the hospital in a sterile room 2 days after diagnosis and I stayed in this room for 6 months (only 3 times 1 week break out of the hospital). The living conditions in this sterile room were really hard as I had to see my family through a window and talk to them through an intercom.
After 3 chemos that did not work, my hematologist told my parents to be prepared for the worst as there was only one last treatment option. I was lucky to get an experimental drug that saved my life, allowing my blasts to decrease to a level that could permit my graft. At last, I was eligible to get my prep chemo and whole body radiation 1 month before my graft. On the 17th of September 2006, I received 2 bags of chorionic stem cell and on the 20th of September I was able to leave my sterile room and go back home. One month later, my myelogram showed that the graft cells were assimilated and that It was working!!!
Unfortunately, 2 month later, I developed a cortico-induced diabetes and I had to go to ER for an acido-ketosis coma. I was lucky that my parents brought me to hospital in time for the doctors to save me once more. After a weight loss of more the 15 kilos in 10 days due to the diabetes, I had to fight to get back on my feet and walk again.
After several months of physiotherapist and diabetologist consults, I was able to be back in shape to hear that there was no sign of my cancer in my blood. It was the 1st best day of my life.
So now, you may be asking: if it is the 1st best day, is there a second one?
Indeed, after all the chemos and the whole body radiation, I was supposed to be sterile but my wife and I were able to have 2 wonderful boys naturally without using medical assistance.
What I want to share here is that there is always hope even if everything shows the contrary. LIFE is always the strongest; I am a living proof that everything is possible. No matter what, keep fighting and never surrender. Of course, there will be up and downs but in the end what matters the most is to KEEP HOPE!!!
