Amberley's Story

August 26, 2020 I was lying on my living room floor bawling in unbearable pain.

I'm a pretty stubborn person and had been ignoring my symptoms for a week, but my husband finally convinced me to go to the ER.
I went in thinking it would be a quick visit with the doctor and I'd be sent home.

After an injection of painkillers, some IV fluids, and a blood test, I was told my white blood cells were extremely high (Normal range is 4-11, mine were over 200). The doctor said it looks like Leukemia and that I need to be seen by a hematologist immediately. I was put in an ambulance and rushed to the hospital an hour away. I was seen quickly by several hematologists who didn't think I would make it through the night.

They told me I would need a bone marrow biopsy and lumbar puncture to determine leukemia type and severity. I was terrified. It would be a couple days later that they would officially diagnose me with Acute Myeloid Leukemia - with a 26% survival rate. And a few days after, I was told I have a mutation (FLT3) which will make things harder to treat.

I received a stem cell transplant in December 2020. Relapsed February 2021. Back into remission in April 2022, and in remission since.