Hi Kurt

I'm a Mum too like Mamawarrior ... my son had AML at 13 followed by BMT and was in remission for 5 years, recently relapsing at 18 ... 19 now and had two more transplants... he is in remission now and doing just fantastic. It has been a roller coaster and a tough battle. I've found he has done better in his head space now he is older, more focussed and kicking butt. He is on facebook, he dont do the cancer talk stuff ... but if you ask I'm sure he will give you the opinion from his point of view. His name is Hamish and if you facebook Hamish and Llewelyn you'll get to him.

Good luck with your journey ... you might want to send your Mum here, we do a lot of support !!

Milton Mermikides is another younger patient I send links for ... but he is in his 30's ... post transplant from ALL.  He has a great site and there is a chat link there where heaps of younger guys hang out ... so you could easily connect there with others. His site is miltcentral.

SO ... we'll be watching for your posts so send updates when you are up to it ... hang in there tough because you can do it ... kick butt, stay active above all else and try and keep your stomach working ... that will minimise your hospital stays once you start to feel better.

Take care and hugz

Sandra

(Mum to Ham)

Hi Kurt,

I'm sorry you're dealing with this so young.  I'm here because my 81 year old mother was recently diagnosed, but also went through it with my neighbor's nephew.  He was diagnosed April '08 when he was 16.  Went through several consolidation chemos and then a BMT, where his brother was the donor.  Just saw him this weekend and he is the poster child of good health.

Just wanted to let you know that there are teens out there who have beat this thing, and you CAN do it.

You are in my prayers,

Tricia

Hey kurt, i am so glad to hear from you, and so glad to hear....remission.

It is a rough road, isn't it? The 3rd round was the worst for my son, ended up in icu because of infection. Keeps you on your toes.

There were no sibling matches for my son either, so he had to have a double umbilical cord after no matches were found in the registry. Two because of him being 20 and a big boy. His cords were from baby girls, so i am confident they will find you something somewhere.

You take care, keep us posted, and stay on your toes.

They don't call this a rollercoaster ride through hell for nothing.

"Remission" is a beautiful word, isn't it?  I'm glad yo got there.

My first thought when you mentioned the leak with your Hickman was whether you'd had any chemo leakage.  Thank goodness that didn't happen and thanks for letting us know.

Are you actually on track for transplant or have they just done some preliminary scouting for donors in case that becomes necessary?  Either way, it's good to know you have some backup isn't it?

Thanks for the update.  Keep 'em coming.

Blessings