about the book
This is the story of my experience with a rare type of acute myeloid leukemia. After being diagnosed in late September 2013, I was told that without treatment, I perhaps I had three to five months to live. Given my age of 73 and with the normal treatment for this disease, the best case scenario presented was I might survive for one year. Then came the third scenario: I was deemed eligible for a clinical trial and provided I could survive the forty percent death rate during treatment, I could look forward to long- term survival. I also learned that a mere three years prior, this treatment was not possible for a person my age There are numerous types of cancers with differing causes and degrees of potential demises to the human body. Only in the last few years has the potential occurred for most cancers not only to be controlled but also to be cured.
In April 2015, my wife and I watched the six hour PBS presentation of Ken Burns’ production of ‘Emperor of all Maladies’. This program chronicles the historical progress towards understanding and curing cancers of all types. The film features one of the most encouraging advancements: childhood leukemia. Iin the 1960’s the cure rate was around six percent while the current cure rate is around ninety percent plus. Wow! I would urge every human and especially those diagnosed with the dreaded C-word disease to view the program or read the book by Siddartha Mukherjee.
Gifted Life
The story of my experience with a rare type of acute myeloid leukemia.