Diagnosis: Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). A Journey

Everything was going well until January 12, the second to last day of chemo. George awoke during the night to what he thought was the world’s worst Charlie horse. He couldn’t get any relief at all and for the next two weeks, the pain in his leg was the absolute bane of his existence. He had trouble standing up…an act which would literally bring him to tears, it was so painful. The tightness and pain in his calf were “excruciating” and the thought of having to get up to walk to the bathroom filled him with dread. The leg was an angry red, then purple, filled with petechiae placed so close together it looked pixilated. Infectious disease doctors and the orthopedic team came in and looked at his leg. Nobody could definitively say what was going on and doing a biopsy or any kind of surgery was too risky, as George’s platelet count was so low. So a broad spectrum antibiotic was added to his IV daily and slowly, as his blood count started to come back, his leg started looking better.