Aml Leukemia Survivors

Relay for Life selects honorary co-chairs

8-year-old Gunnar Nelson named honorary co-chair

Eight-year-old Gunnar Nelson will be an honorary co-chair during his first ever Relay for Life event as a cancer survivor. Along with “Team Gunner” he will be walking the lighted path to fight for a cure.

On March 1 of this year Gunnar was diagnosed with Leukemia. It all started with leg pains, after numerous tests and trips to the doctor and lots of blood work and elimination it still wasn’t getting any better. “Gunnar was experiencing a lot off pain, fevers off and on, and he was just miserable. We knew that something just wasn’t right,” explained Kelly, Gunnar’s mom. “We were finally able to make it down to Children’s Hospital where after a full workup, an eventual MRI and Bone Marrow test, they had come to the conclusion that it was a tumor. Gunnar’s blood was then sent to the Mayo clinic and the University of Minnesota where it was discovered that it was not a tumor, but Leukemia.”

At first thought the doctors said that Gunnar had both AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia) and ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia), but then came to realize that it was just ALL. “He was diagnosed with type B Leukemia which was a very good thing. The treatment for the type B, ALL is long but it is not nearly as intense as the AML type,” explained Kelly. “Gunnar is the first child in Minnesota to be on the treatment road map that he is on because of his type B cell which is a very acute, low risk type.”

“When we got the news it was Earth shattering, as a mom. We just got to that point where we wanted to know. We decided that no matter how horrible it was we would just need to get him better because watching him in so much pain was almost harder then hearing the news,” an emotional Kelly shared. “To not be able to help him was devastating. He would lay on the floor and just cry. He would get on the chair because he couldn’t lay in bed, he just couldn’t sleep. Once we finally found out that he had Leukemia we just stopped, the whole world stopped. We soon realized that we needed to move on. Now we have a treatment plan in place and have phenomenal doctors as well.”

“The whole month of March was just awful.Gunnar was on steroids and he just kind of lied around on the couch which caused his muscles to get weak. It was horrible,” Sandy Nelson, Gunnar’s grandma explained. “How Gunnar has since come out of this is absolutely wonderful. He is such a brave boy. I think that him just being him is what has gotten him through. He has been so strong and positive about everything. He was determined to make it through and he sure did.

i was just diagnosed w/ AML last wed.? | Usefulhost-THE OFFICIAL SITE!

Thankfully I have never had cancer and I have not gone through chemotherapy myself but my 2 year old son E has gone through many rounds of it. As a baby he had a Wilms’ Tumour – a childhood kidney cancer and successfully beat his cancer with chemotherapy and a nephrectomy of his left kidney containing the entire baseball-sized tumour. Due to the strong doses of chemo drugs, he developed a secondary AML leukemia in December and he’s currently doing very well in his fight. To treat this and its effects he has gone through 3 rounds of induction chemo, 3 rounds of consolidation chemo, and he has had a splenectomy. Due to a tumour in his liver (most likely unrelated to the AML) he was put back on intense chemo and just finished a round of it.

I’ve picked up quite a bit on what really goes on in these hospitals and I’ve had to make a lot of tough decisions for my son. I know cancer isn’t easy even though I’ve thankfully never had it myself. You’re more than welcome to IM me (crazycanuckj) or send me an email (crazycanuckj@yahoo.ca). I hope treatment goes well for you!

Alright. I want you to print this off. I was in your shoes twice. I’m still kicking so there is no reason you can’t make it. Here’s a list of tips.

1) You’ll be taking alot of pills soon to counter act the Chemo. As funny as this sounds it works like a charm. I was taking 16 pills twice a day at one point. I figured out that if you USE ROOT BEER TO TAKE YOUR PILLS you don’t taste (as much) the pills.

2)You probabally have a central line or hickman in. It’s a tube in your chest that branches out into two tubes and connects you to that God forsaken pole. You probabally experienced a saline flush. The nurse attaches a syringe to the end of your line and injects a clear fluid and it tastes horrid. CHEW A CINNIMON GUM WHEN THEY FLUSH YOUR LINES. It blocks the taste.

3) You’re going to get sick. Really sick from the Chemo. They list nausea as a side effect from Chemo, no it is the effect of Chemo. You’ll be able to recoginize the feeling if you’re going to puke. If you have any family staying with you tell them that when you say bucket that means give me something to puke in.

4) Get to know your nurses. They’re taking care of you so you mind as well. Develop a routine with them. I had one that would come in and watch the price is right with me everyday. That helps pass the time.

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