{"id":218570,"date":"2026-03-24T20:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T20:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/218570\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T20:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T20:10:14","slug":"rare-double-hit-leukemia-survivor-go-straight-to-ut-md-anderson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/218570\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare double-hit leukemia survivor: \u2018Go straight to UT\u00a0MD\u00a0Anderson\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Normally, leukemia is a disease that strikes old people and babies. So, when I was diagnosed with\u00a0chronic myeloid leukemia<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0November 2022, I was shocked. There is zero history of cancer<\/a> in my family. At the time, I was only 36.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was even more shocked to learn that I had not just\u00a0one\u00a0form of leukemia, but\u00a0two:\u00a0chronic myeloid leukemia\u00a0and\u00a0acute myeloid leukemia<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Having two different types of leukemia at the same time is so rare<\/a> that the first hospital I went to didn\u2019t even know it was possible. But the doctors at UT MD Anderson recognized it right away. They also saved my life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My\u00a0unusual\u00a0leukemia symptoms\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking back now, I\u00a0likely\u00a0had\u00a0other\u00a0symptoms<\/a>. But\u00a0the way I found out I had leukemia\u00a0was\u00a0kind of\u00a0crazy, too.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019d had corrective eye surgery done in my early 30s, so my vision was supposed to be 20\/20. Then, one day, I realized I couldn\u2019t see the numbers on my phone while playing Sudoku. I made an appointment with a new eye doctor.<\/p>\n

The ophthalmologist who performed my eye exam started freaking out almost immediately. He said I had blood behind both my eyes, a condition known as retinal hemorrhage. I didn\u2019t realize it then, but it can be caused by a\u00a0very low platelet count<\/a>,\u00a0which is\u00a0a\u00a0symptom of\u00a0leukemia\u00a0known as severe thrombocytopenia.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ophthalmologist referred me to an eye specialist who could examine me right away. That specialist said I\u2019d had a stroke<\/a> in one eye and was about to have one in the other. He sent me to a local emergency room.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

How I got to UT MD Anderson<\/p>\n

The attending physicians at the local ER ran several tests. By the next morning, they were convinced I had leukemia. They just couldn\u2019t figure out which one. Eventually, they decided on chronic myeloid leukemia, and I started receiving treatment for it.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the treatments didn\u2019t work. I just kept getting sicker and sicker. I lost almost 80 pounds over the course of several months, and became so weak I could barely walk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The care team told my boyfriend I only had about three weeks left to live<\/a>. He proposed, and we got married within just a few days in my hospital room. Once we were spouses, he insisted I go to UT MD Anderson.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s\u00a0how I ended up\u00a0meeting\u00a0leukemia\u00a0specialist,\u00a0Dr. Tapan Kadia<\/a>,\u00a0just\u00a0two days later.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Corrected leukemia diagnosis made all the difference<\/p>\n

I was in really bad shape by the time I got to UT MD Anderson. But I liked Dr. Kadia right away. He was kind and straightforward, without any sugarcoating.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Within the hour, he had figured out that I\u2019d been partially misdiagnosed. I did have chronic myeloid leukemia. But I also had acute myeloid leukemia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. Kadia explained that chronic leukemia can sometimes turn into acute leukemia. But people usually have one or the other. Still, mine was not some weird transitional phase between the two. I literally had both kinds at the same time, which was extremely rare.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My\u00a0dual\u00a0leukemia\u00a0treatment<\/p>\n

To treat me, Dr. Kadia recommended a combination of therapies.\u00a0He suggested\u00a0two\u00a0chemotherapy<\/a>\u00a0drugs called cladribine\u00a0and cytarabine, plus\u00a0an\u00a0immunotherapy<\/a>\u00a0drug called\u00a0gemtuzumab\u00a0ozogamicin\u00a0and a type of\u00a0targeted therapy<\/a>\u00a0called a tyrosine kinase inhibitor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first hospital I went to accidentally gave me too much chemotherapy, and my organs started shutting down. I got jaundice<\/a> three times while I was there and ended up with permanent kidney damage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u00a0felt traumatized by that\u00a0whole\u00a0experience. So, I\u00a0was terrified\u00a0to start this new treatment.\u00a0But\u00a0I trusted Dr. Kadia.\u00a0I\u00a0followed his advice\u00a0and did everything he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Soon,\u00a0my\u00a0situation\u00a0completely turned around.\u00a0My\u00a0blood counts<\/a>\u00a0started\u00a0normalizing, and I was feeling much better. Within a month, I could walk again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m\u00a0just happy\u00a0to be alive<\/p>\n

I still have some residual peripheral vision loss, and my eyes get tired really quickly. But most of my eyesight has returned. I\u2019m also in remission from the acute myeloid leukemia, and thanks to medication, I show no evidence of disease for the other. I went from thinking I had only a few weeks left to live to actually having hope for a future. I am incredibly grateful.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not a lot of data out there on the combination of these diseases. So, I\u2019m not sure how long I\u2019ll stay in remission. I\u2019m still taking several medications in pill form, and I\u2019ll continue to do so as long as they keep working. If the acute myeloid leukemia ever comes back, I\u2019ll have to consider a stem cell transplant<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s been four years since my dual diagnosis, and I really didn\u2019t expect to be here at all. So, I\u2019m just happy to be alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I tell everybody now to go straight to UT MD Anderson. Nobody else is as specialized as they are, so they can spot things that other places miss. They can also successfully treat the rarest stuff around.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I am living proof.<\/p>\n

Request an appointment at UT MD Anderson online<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0call 1-877-632-6789.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Normally, leukemia is a disease that strikes old people and babies. So, when I was diagnosed with\u00a0chronic myeloid…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[39548,1145,13197,85290,1142,56,58,57,26375,1144,75671,1148,2822,49546],"class_list":["post-218570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-acute-myeloid-leukemia","tag-caregivers","tag-chemotherapy","tag-chronic-myeloid-leukemia","tag-family-friends","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-immunotherapy","tag-leukemia","tag-patient-caregiver-stories","tag-patients","tag-survivors","tag-targeted-therapy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}