Lou and David Sears

The following is a beginning, a rough draft, of the forward to my story. It will be an introduction to my journal.

FORWARD

On May 9, 2013, my life changed. I have always heard your life can change in an instant. It is true.

It was after school on a Thursday before Mother’s Day weekend. I was in my classroom working with my colleague and friend, preparing materials for the next day.  We were Reading Specialists who worked with students who needed extra help in reading. We had found a Mother’s Day poem that the students could write on cardstock and present to their mothers.

As I was driving home, I began to feel extremely tired, to the point that I thought I would have to pull over and have my husband David come and get me. I got off the highway and continued home on a less busy road, finally making it. As soon as I arrived, I fell asleep on the couch.  

David had been visiting his mother at a rehabilitation center where she was recovering from pneumonia, so he didn’t arrive home until a couple of hours later. He knew something was wrong when he found me on the couch asleep. He said my face was flushed, and I was disoriented. He took my temperature, and it was 103.4. He wanted to take me to the ER at the local hospital, but I said let’s wait and recheck my temp in thirty minutes. Don’t ask me why I thought that would make a difference; it didn’t. 

My temperature was still 103.4, so we went to the ER, where they ran various tests to see what was happening.  I had not been sick, had not had a cough or cold, and had felt fine all day at school. Whatever was going on with me had come out of nowhere. 

After a few hours in the ER, my blood pressure began to tank, eventually reaching 32/28. I was rushed to the ICU and began fluids and antibiotics. I was also given steroids at one point. I started to improve after a day or two. Later, the doctor and nurses told me they thought they were going to lose me in the ICU as my organs were shutting down. 

I continued to improve and was dismissed from the hospital after five days. I was visited by a hospitalist as I was packing to go home. She said my labs looked good, except there was a protein spike in my blood, and I needed to be retested by my primary care doctor in two weeks. She said it could be something called MGUS. I had no idea what that was, but I started to tear up because it sounded serious.  She immediately said, “Stop that! There are people I see who are much worse off than you.” I was shocked at what she said to me but was unable to reply because it was so unexpected.

After recuperating at home for a week, I was able to return for the last of school due to my quick recovery. As a follow-up to my hospitalization, I returned to my primary care doctor for the blood tests that were needed. When she received the results, the protein spike was still there.  She referred me to a hematologist for further tests. My husband and I drove to the address the day of the appointment but were shocked to see “Cancer Center” on the building. 

Thus began my cancer journey.

The following account of my cancer journey is exactly as I posted it in my Caring Bridge journal. My intent was to not only keep a written record of my journey but also inform and hopefully help others who are on their own cancer journey.

Take Care,

Lou Sears