I choose to write this because it’s quite personal to me. On the 5th of May this year as we were coming from a place called Meteitei, Kenya, we passed by my aunty Cate’s place in Nakuru. She had been sick for a while. So sick that sometimes she couldn’t find the strength to walk. However, friends, on that specific day, I was so elated to see her walk towards us to receive us. She was even smiling and my oh my wasn’t I happy!
Grab some coffee guys cause it’s going to be a long but interesting read.
We went inside the house to continue our chitchat and as we made our way, a certain dog, if I can recall the name was Pinto, barked so aggressively and in the back of my mind I couldn’t help but think of different scenarios had that dog’s chain loosened. It was amidst these stories that I learnt about the intensity of this disease and the recovery process from chronic myeloid leukemia. Perhaps not many people know about this so today I’ll use my blog to share info regarding this.
So one might ask, what’s chronic and is it different from acute? The answer is yes. From my little pool of knowledge, acute diseases develop rather suddenly and last for a short while whereas chronic diseases take time to develop and persist.
Leukemia is a blood cancer. There are 3 types of blood cancers namely; Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. I’ll briefly describe the other two but my focus today will be majorly on leukemia. Patients with leukemia make a lot of white blood cells that can’t fight diseases. Blood cancers affect blood cells and bone marrow, inside which our blood cells are formed. Blood cells include; white blood cells(WBCs), red blood cells(RBCs) and platelets and their functioning is affected by these cancers.
Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymph system. The lymph system includes lymph nodes, spleen, lymph vessels and the thymus gland. It’s in these vessels that WBCs are stored and carried to help the body fight diseases. This cancer starts in the lymphocytes, the name betrays it, a type of WBC. I’ll talk more about lymphoma in a later blog.
Myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells in the bone marrow. Plasma cells are a type of white blood cells that produce antibodies. Cells affected by myeloma make antibodies that cannot fight infection. I’ll just drop this here, if you are; obese, been around radiation for a while or have a relative with myeloma, chances are you might also be at risk. I’ll also share more on myeloma at a later blog.
Back to leukemia pals. Aunty Cate has been recovering from chronic myeloid leukemia for the past nine months. It has not been an easy journey for her as she would tell you. She would spend days away from work, the pain from the side effects of medication which I’ll talk about shortly and you know, all this she has gone through, chin up.
Chronic myeloid leukemia(CML) AKA Chronic myelogenous leukemia is just one among four types of leukemia. The others are; Acute lymphocytic leukemia, Chronic lymphocytic leukemia and Acute myeloid leukemia. Let’s take a deep dive into Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.
As the name suggests, this blood cancer begins in myeloid cells. These abnormal cells grow slowly. Myeloid cells are a type of blood cells that arise from bone marrow. They play a big role in innate immunity.
CML is known to affect mostly middle aged and older people. Symptoms come on gradually. It’s actually sad that not so many people will know what caused the disease, this is because neither smoking habits, diet nor infections seem to raise the risk. It’s also not passed down from our parents. Exposure to radiation however, is a risk factor.
Symptoms of CML depend on the phase a patient is in. There are 3 phases: chronic, accelerated and blastic. Chronic phase, earliest, easiest treatable and symptoms may fail to appear. Accelerated phase, dysfunctioning blood cells increase and symptoms may appear. These symptoms may include: fatigue, shortness of breath, weight loss, swelling/pain on the left side( may be an indication of a swollen spleen),pain in the bones, stroke, ringing in your ears and changes in your vision. Blastic phase involves more severe symptoms. Here, leukemia cells multiply and crowd out health blood cells. Symptoms include bone pain, swollen glands, bleeding, skin changes and infections.
Treatment of CML aims a destroying leukemia cells and restoring healthy ones to normal levels. Getting rid of all bad ones is a hefty task I must say, this is why getting treatment in the early phase can help prevent the disease from getting worse. Doctors often give drugs called tyrosine kinase inhibitors( TKIs) initially. They slow down the rate at which the body makes leukemia cells. TKIs commonly used include: Bosutinib(Bosulif) ,Imanitib(Gleevec) and Nilotinib( Tasigna).
Gleevec was used prescribed to Aunty Cate for 90 days as her first line of treatment for CML but later shifted to Iclusig, a ponatinib, a drug used when other drugs don’t help or make one too sick. Major side effects experienced after taking Iclusig include high blood pressure, joint pain and drying of the skin. Other lines of treatment include chemotherapy and biological therapy. A stem cell transplant is also an option(it’s complicated though and is used when other treatments aren’t working).
What I learnt from her is that consultation with your doctor is really important. Constant communication between the two of you regarding the medication plays a crucial part in getting better. I believe Dr. N.A Othieno Abinya deserves a mention and salute for the great work he has been doing. He is a consultant medical oncologist at the Nairobi Hospital Cancer Centre, formerly Professor of Medicine at the University of Nairobi and Head of Oncology at Aga Khan University Hospital. He has been in charge of Aunty Cate’s treatment and I can confidently say he’s good at the craft.
Also, following treatment plans, eating healthy and exercising when able is part of self care treatment. Although it’s hard to get rid of completely, many people live long lives with it.
Finally, make sure to reach out to family and friends for emotional backing. Aunty Cate is doing so well. We talked the other day and she was from a check up. Her blood count test was good and her cancer cells were minimal. Having a positive attitude towards treatment has helped her cope with a lot that she has faced. There exists The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society that can help one find services and support as well as up-to-date info regarding treatment.
I tried as much as I could to make this less of a scientific journal. I hope you learnt a couple or two new stuff. I’ll be posting medical stuff on Wednesdays, poems and other interesting topics on other days henceforth as part of my blog’s renovation. See you then.
GRACIAS!!
Prose & Pawns 
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