Come Monday, It'll Be Alright

Hopefully those Jimmy Buffett lyrics will prove to be true. I should get the results of my remission test tomorrow. Also tomorrow, I begin taking the ATRA for fifteen days. If it has the same effect as the last two times, the headache will begin around four o'clock Monday afternoon.

We've been praying for a clean remission test result, and my doctor says it's highly likely that will be the case. If it is clean, however, I won't be quite as joyous as I've been post the last two PCR tests.

My grandma started a new treatment course this past week. So far, she hasn't had much in the way of side effects, which is excellent. I shouldn't worry about her because she is one tough cookie, and the most positive person I know. But I can't help it. I love her so much.

Also, one of the friends I've made this year, through our shared circumstances (young 30s, leukemia (She has AML M-1. I have AML M-3.), is sick again. She found out the beginning of last week that she has relapsed. She has young children, and is back for a long stay in the hospital. Knowing what it's like to be away from your family, I feel so bad for her. Though like my grandma, she is a fighter, and will be just fine.

People ask me how I've been so brave this year. I'm not a brave person. My answer is that I don't have a choice. Neither does my Grandma, nor my friend. You act brave because that's what you do for those you love, and those who love you.