APL Leukemia Medical Expenses

Hello, my name is Mike Hadsell and in December of 2022, I was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia.

It was the last week of November when I started feeling off and things escalated rather quickly. I had been experiencing a fever that would come and go on a daily basis and nose bleeds without cause, but not a single Covid test came back positive. I just assumed I had been overworking and not sleeping enough. As the days went on, I noticed it got harder to stand up without getting dizzy or lightheaded and if I stood for too long, I would begin to lose my hearing.

On December 6th, I decided to visit Urgent Care in hopes to get to the root of the problem, not expecting to be rushed to a hospital. The attending physician at Urgent Care sent me to the hospital because my blood pressure was higher than normal. I wasn’t happy at the time because it seemed a bit extreme, but I am beyond thankful I made it when I did.

Upon getting to Ellis Hospital, I was told to sit in the waiting room while the lab ran blood tests. In the meantime, they took me to get X-Rays to start ruling out potential issues. When I returned from the X-Rays, I was asked to head in for more blood samples because they believed there was something wrong with the initial lab tests.

After being returned to the waiting room a third time to wait for the second set of lab tests, I started falling asleep. A woman came rushing out with a wheelchair asking me to sit with her to get rushed upstairs for immediate blood transfusions. I had no idea what was going on at this point and had to ask why in the world I would need blood. I had no idea how a transfusion worked or what would cause me to ever need one! Without saying too much, she politely told me that my body is somehow operating on a very low amount of blood and I’d need more to stay alive. I was lucky to be alive.

A very nice nurse stayed by my side that night while I received blood and plasma transfusions. She kept a conversation going and refused to let me sleep. It wasn’t until I read the medical notes months later that I found out she made a personal decision to stay in the room and make sure I remained conscious. Her shift was over and she stayed until I was able to be transferred. She explained how I’d be getting transferred to Albany Med in the morning to receive care from a special team and that Ellis didn’t have the resources to treat me. A little thrown off, I asked what might be wrong with me and she said “I can’t give you an exact answer and I don’t want you to worry, but the doctors believe you have a form of blood cancer.”

After a sleepless night, at 7:00am sharp an ambulance came to pick me up and transfer me to Albany Med where a bed was waiting for me. The oncologists were made aware of my situation and I was seen by a team of specialists and residents after I arrived to the Emergency Department. While there, waiting to be moved to the Oncology Floor, the doctor assigned to my case explained the possibility of me having what is called Acute Leukemia. Further tests needed to be done to determine whether it was AML or APL, but they were certain it was cancer. Chemotherapy began immediately and I was forced to stay as an in-patient for a minimum of 28 consecutive days of treatment, which was extended slightly due to further complications.

At the end of my hospital stay, I had a chemo-port surgically placed in my chest to allow easier access for the infusions, as I’d need 8 months of out-patient treatment to ensure complete remission. I was happy to have the port installed and I thought things were starting to finally look up, as I was getting ready to head home! Just in time for my 30th birthday!

After being released, I was taking things slowly and adjusting to a feeling of normalcy again. I have Monica to thank for that. She’s been by my side every step of the way and hasn’t let one moment go by without reassuring me I’m not alone. Monica is the love of my life and I truly owe her mine. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be here typing this now. Two weeks after being released from the hospital, I began getting high fevers again with violent nausea. I was beginning to lose my ability to put my thoughts into words and couldn’t focus on anything. Fevers and nausea can be normal during treatment and recovery, but she decided I should get seen by a doctor to make sure nothing else was wrong.

Back at Ellis, they ran through the same blood tests and X-Rays they’d done the first time. Only this time, things were a little different. This time, we knew I had Leukemia and something else was causing these new problems. I’ve never been so cold in my life. They kept me in a separate waiting room, away from other patients, and on a gurney covered in blankets to warm me up and hopefully stop my body from shaking. Each minute that passed, I could tell I was losing consciousness. I wasn’t fearful of anything though. I don’t think I had enough energy in me to be scared. All I wanted was to stop shaking. The doctors intravenously administered saline solution to keep me hydrated and told me an ambulance was on its way to bring me to Albany Med. I went septic.

At Albany Med, I was in the Emergency Room initially and transferred to the ICU where I was under constant watch. I continued to lose consciousness and don’t remember a lot of my time in the ICU, but this is where it got determined my Chemo-Port caused an infection that led to me going into septic shock. From what I was told, the chemo port had been removed immediately without sedation because I wasn’t conscious to begin with. I have no recollection. Unfortunately, the infection had been spreading in my artery and built up a blockage in my heart. My charts were a mess.

After being transferred from the ICU back up to the Oncology Floor where I had just spent over a month, I was told I needed to stay even longer. The testing just never seemed to end. I was woken up at all hours of the night, every night, to be administered medications and blood transfusions. This infection ended up resulting in the need for an invasive heart surgery, which was done during my second stay. Needless to say, I am scarred both physically and mentally from this experience.

As I write this, I am going through my second round of chemotherapy during what is called the Consolidation Phase. I’m happy to report that even though I’ve been diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer, I have a positive prognosis due to modern medicine and advances in this field. I will soon be able to return to life as it was.

Those of you who know me, know that it hurts me deeply to ask for help, so sharing this is very hard for me. I hope that at the very least you got to read my story and understand how life can change in an instant for any one of us. For anyone who would like to help, the funds I raise here will go to the medical expenses I’ve incurred throughout the recent months and the ones I will continue to accrue during my treatments, as not all of my medication is covered by insurance.

I truly appreciate the time you’ve taken to read this and thank you all for your consideration.