CALGARY HONOURED HERO
It was shortly after my 22nd birthday that my battle with blood cancer began. It was the spring of 2012 and I was finishing up my 3rd year of University here in Calgary. I was eager to get through my final exams so that I could move out of town and begin the engineering work internship that I had recently been offered for the summer.
At this point in my life I was young, strong and fit. Up until then I hadn’t experienced much hardship or adversity. As a healthy young man, I was whole heartedly convinced that that I was in complete control of my future and that I could only be held back by the lack of effort I put towards something. Boy was I ever in for a big surprise!
Through the entire month of April 2012 I had numerous symptoms that I foolishly brushed off as signs that I was over stressed and needed a good rest. I would wake up in the morning with blood in the back of my throat, swollen gums and strange bruising on my body. Before getting out of bed I would have to sit up and wait several minutes before standing for fear of passing out. I would have to wait for that same blackness to clear out of my head every time I would climb a set of stairs. During this time I was indescribably tired but I just stubbornly plodded on as if nothing was wrong.
I finally finished up the semester and had one weekend to pack my things and move to Lloydminster where my new job would start on Monday. During this weekend, I went to the optometrist to get more contact lenses before I departed. After the optometrist examined my eyes, he recommended that I get some blood work done because of the bleeding he noticed in the back of my eyes. So following his advice I went and got some blood work done that afternoon. It didn’t take long for my blood to be analyzed and for health services to try and contact me. I was out for dinner that same evening and my phone would not stop going off. I returned the calls after dinner, at which point I was forwarded to a doctor who said “Well son, you’ve got Leukemia”; he then instructed me to make my way immediately to the nearest hospital emergency department.
I was diagnosed with Acute Mixed Phenotypic Leukemia. I was admitted into the hospital immediately to begin my treatment protocol which consisted of chemotherapy and radiation followed by a stem cell transplant to replace my cancerous bone marrow with that of a donor’s. That summer of treatment was by far the most turbulent time in my life as well as my family’s. During my treatment, I had to also battle various infections and other complications, but through this stage I still remained optimistic.
Although the stem cell transplant had been successful at curing me of my cancer, it had left me with a chronic autoimmune condition called Graft Versus Host Disease. In my case, this was quite severe and left me to overcome a lot despite my cancer having gone into remission.
As the months turned into years of dealing with persistent GVHD symptoms that affected my eyes, mouth, GI tract, skin and lungs, it became more and more apparent to me that I would permanently be affected by the damage that this disease was causing my body. It was in this time that I was at my lowest point. I felt that my world consisted of broken dreams and that I didn’t have anything to look forward to.
It was also during this time that I was introduced to the Light the Night Walk. Seeing the gathering of so many people that had faced such hardship was inspiring beyond all words. It helped me to overcome the feelings of helplessness and despair that I was dealing with.
I’m happy to share that after four years of battling my autoimmune symptoms I was finally able to complete my university degree and embark on my career as a petroleum engineer. There is no doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the support of my family, friends and the medical professionals at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre. Although I still deal with repercussions of my treatments and the autoimmune disease to this day, I am able to cope with them to a point where I feel I can still carry on a very normal life.
I walk as a survivor to raise awareness and funds for blood cancer research so that maybe one day, less people will have to experience the results of a diagnosis. I also walk to help inspire hope in individuals who are still on their path to recovery like I was when I experienced my first Light the Night Walk.
