The L Word

Hi, everyone.

As some of you know, I've been having some mysterious health issues over the past few months. Some of you also know that these culminated in a trip to emergency in the wee hours of this Monday morning. And a smattering of you know that, after two days of poking, prodding, and removing various fluids (most of which are usually perfectly content to stay inside my body), I received the news: I've been diagnosed with leukemia.

I can't say much more than that because we don't know much more than that. There are several different types of leukemia (WebMD has a good primer—I most likely have acute myeloid leukemia, or AML), and I still need a few more tests to see if there are any complicating factors. Tomorrow morning I head to the Jewish General Hospital to take those tests; I'll also be settling in there to start four weeks of chemotherapy. (As you are probably not at all surprised to read, I have been preparing for this all day by stocking up on books, magazines, music, and videos to pass the time. Hey, any opportunity to catch up on media is a good one.)

Here's one thing we do know: although the idea of catching leukemia early is a bit different from that of other cancers, it's pretty certain that it wasn't caught too late. Overall I'm still in fairly good health, which I'm told is a pretty good indicator that it hasn't advanced too far.

So anyway, tomorrow I go into my four-week, microscopic wrestling match. I'll still have access to e-mail, so you can drop me a line whenever you feel like it. If you want to know about phone and room information, just ask. One note: I'd like to say that visitors will be welcome, but I know what chemo can sometimes do to a person; I won't know for sure until things really get underway, but there's a chance that misery may not, in fact, like company. Phoning ahead is good.

And that's it for now. I really need to get to bed.