An introduction to the blog... and the story

I've decided to start this blog to help keep my friends & family updated as to how things are progressing since being diagnosed with MDS/AML Myelodysplastic syndrome/ Acute myelo leukemia. MDS Leads to AML, right now I'm borderline AML and waiting for some test results from my second bone marrow biopsy.

I work for Hans Hazenboom as a finish carpenter and while working in his shop I nicked my finger on the tooth of a saw blade while building some cabinets. No big deal, just flush out any debris, put a band aid on and go back to work.

But this little wound was taking forever to heal and developed a bit of an inflammation/infection. I had also noticed that my legs were getting very bruised up; at the time I had been doing quite a bit of yard work and didn't think too much of it... just banging around in a drainage trench and cutting firewood for the winter. One day I was picking blackberries with my son Louis and got poked by a thorn right in the center of one of the bruises on my calf . I didn't really pay any attention to that until ,while working in my shop, I noticed a
steady trickle of blood down my leg and onto the shop floor.

Very strange, but I've always been one to rationalize what seem to be small things like that. The bruise was full of blood, so that pressure is all that was causing this bleeding. Simple!
A couple of days later at work the finger that was nicked by the saw blade was sore and swollen and towards the end of the day i noticed a red streak forming on the back of my hand.

Uh Oh, blood poisoning, I thought and quit work a little early to have it checked out at The Lady Minto. The doctor gave me a prescription for cellulitis and asked if my lymph glands felt swollen under my arms. I told him no, but noticed a bruise on my wrist and let him know that it seemed like I had been getting a lot of bruises lately. I showed him one of the big purple bruised on my legs and he scheduled me for blood work the next day, telling me to take a couple of days off.
The next day after the blood tests things started to happen very fast. My GP gave me a call in the morning to come and see him after lunch and then called right back to see me as soon as possible. Not good.

He let me know what his suspicions were right away and the word "leukemia" played prominently in the conversation. Within three hours of that conversation I was at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria getting a bone marrow biopsy. The initial results under a microscope showed some abnormal cells, a very low platelet count, low white blood cells and low hemoglobin. A day later and after more extensive tests I was told I had MDS. An Unlucky disease.

Here's a few photos of me.

when I was 11 or 12 kinda wild and untamed

my first blood transfusion Aug.30 2008

I'm 45, kinda wild and untamed, but with a few unwanted leukemia cells floating around in my bone marrow.