In May 2020, The Jetton Circus added another square to their page when Kaet was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia). AML is a type of blood cancer.
General Information About Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia (https://www.cancer.gov/types/leukemia/patient/adult-aml-treatment-pdq#section/all)
- Adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes abnormal myeloblasts (a type of white blood cell), red blood cells, or platelets.
- Leukemia may affect red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
- There are different subtypes of AML.
- Smoking, previous chemotherapy treatment, and exposure to radiation may affect the risk of adult AML.
- Signs and symptoms of adult AML include fever, feeling tired, and easy bruising or bleeding.
The only symptoms Kaet had noticed was an increase in fatigue, sleeping in later than usual, occasional dizziness (she thought was vertigo) and some easy bruising. She had figured all her symptoms were due to the stress of the pandemic, homeschooling kids and all the changes happening at the time. She was still working in Emergency Medicine and due to covid was picking up extra shifts. The week she was diagnosed began with a sore throat which she thought was strep. She went on antibiotics but wasn’t getting any better. She awoke on May 21st with one of the worst headaches she ever had so she went to her ER where she worked thinking she either had meningitis or COVID but then was diagnosed with Leukemia. Her WBCs (white blood cells) were extremely high and she had myeloid blasts in her blood stream.
Leukemia is not staged like other cancers but instead is but into risk categories based off the genetic subtypes of the leukemia. Kaet’s subtype of AML is called MECOM. It is a more aggressive form of Leukemia and thus is harder to treat. It puts her in the High risk category. When you are first diagnosed with Leukemia you have what’s called induction chemo. The first round of chemo shocks your system so staying in the hospital for the first 20+ days is necessary. Induction chemo didn’t work to put her in remission, so she was quickly transferred to MD Anderson in Houston, TX for further treatment.
God’s hand has been evident along each path – She is followed by both the department head of Leukemia and Stemcell at MDA. The second round of chemo which required 7 day inpatient regimen – did put her into remission. This means that in her bone marrow, the immature blasts cells were <5%. In order to be “cured” of Leukemia, Kaet would need the ultimate treatment of a Stem Cell Transplant to try and replace Kaet’s damaged stem cells with completely new stem cells that would not grow abnormally. Kaet underwent Stem Cell Transplant Aug 19 2020.
Stem Cell Transplant (also known as bone marrow transplant) means a minimum inpatient stay of 21+ days due to your severe immunocompromised status. The chemo used in Stemcell basically kills off all remaining bone marrow stem cells in order to empty out the bone marrow as much as possible and then place new stem cells from a donor in her body. The regimen is very intense and has many side effects and causes a lot of weakness for a lengthy bit of time.
Unfortunately, at the end of Jan 2021 at 6months post transplant she was found to be in relapse. Her aggressive Leukemia had returned despite a whole new system.
The same inpatient 7 day regimen that was performed at MD Anderson in June was started again on Feb 1, 2021. Kaet will get to recover this time at home, visiting our local hospital frequently. The next step in the treatment plan has not been decided, but if you follow this page we will keep you updated.
We continue to stay focused on the fight and that ultimate healing that we believe iis coming. We are unsure about the next step once back in remission but we know the BEST plan has already been decided by our ever-loving good God.
James 1:2