Marty's Bone Marrow Biopsy
Donation protected
Hello Everyone!
You may be surprised to see this GoFundMe account for Marty, but I can guarantee you that we were more surprised to need it! Here’s what happened…
Marty went in for his annual physical recently and the doctor said he “looked pretty healthy” for his age. However, a day or two later he got a call telling him there was a problem with his blood work. Marty’s white cell count was out of control (normal count is anywhere from 4,000 to 11,000, his was 18,000). The doctor suspected a type of leukemia and sent him to Cancer Care Northwest for more tests.
Dr. Kaya at Cancer Care NW sent Marty in for a bone marrow biopsy and confirmed that Marty does have Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), stage 0. Doctors aren't certain what starts the process that causes CLL. What's known is that something happens to cause a genetic mutation in the DNA of blood-producing cells. This mutation causes the blood cells to produce abnormal, ineffective lymphocytes.
Beyond being ineffective, these abnormal lymphocytes continue to live and multiply, when normal lymphocytes would die. The abnormal lymphocytes accumulate in the blood and certain organs, where they cause complications. They may crowd healthy cells out of the bone marrow and interfere with normal blood cell production.
For now Marty will only require monitoring every 6 months until or unless he develops outward symptoms (swollen lymph nodes, night sweats, frequent infections). While there is potential for CLL to advance in stages quickly and require treatment or even change into another form of cancer, most CLL progresses more slowly than other forms of cancer and can be managed with medication when it does.
The reason for this GoFundMe is that the bill from the hospital for the bone marrow biopsy came and we could really use some help. Even with health insurance, our portion is $3,843.31. We’ve already paid the bill to the cancer specialist and we can afford some of this bill, but not all, so we are setting our account goal at $3,500.
If you are able to help, even in a small way, we would appreciate it SO much! Feel free to share with others and please feel free to ask us any questions you have. As always, your prayers are much appreciated as well. For now, Marty is feeling pretty good and enjoying retirement (he retired last September) and taking on the role of “house hubby”. We continue to live life one day at a time, thankful for God’s grace and trusting Him with whatever comes.
Resting in His Grace,
Cathrine & Marty
P.S. Here is a link to a quick overview of CLL from the Mayo Clinic if you are interested.
You may be surprised to see this GoFundMe account for Marty, but I can guarantee you that we were more surprised to need it! Here’s what happened…
Marty went in for his annual physical recently and the doctor said he “looked pretty healthy” for his age. However, a day or two later he got a call telling him there was a problem with his blood work. Marty’s white cell count was out of control (normal count is anywhere from 4,000 to 11,000, his was 18,000). The doctor suspected a type of leukemia and sent him to Cancer Care Northwest for more tests.
Dr. Kaya at Cancer Care NW sent Marty in for a bone marrow biopsy and confirmed that Marty does have Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), stage 0. Doctors aren't certain what starts the process that causes CLL. What's known is that something happens to cause a genetic mutation in the DNA of blood-producing cells. This mutation causes the blood cells to produce abnormal, ineffective lymphocytes.
Beyond being ineffective, these abnormal lymphocytes continue to live and multiply, when normal lymphocytes would die. The abnormal lymphocytes accumulate in the blood and certain organs, where they cause complications. They may crowd healthy cells out of the bone marrow and interfere with normal blood cell production.
For now Marty will only require monitoring every 6 months until or unless he develops outward symptoms (swollen lymph nodes, night sweats, frequent infections). While there is potential for CLL to advance in stages quickly and require treatment or even change into another form of cancer, most CLL progresses more slowly than other forms of cancer and can be managed with medication when it does.
The reason for this GoFundMe is that the bill from the hospital for the bone marrow biopsy came and we could really use some help. Even with health insurance, our portion is $3,843.31. We’ve already paid the bill to the cancer specialist and we can afford some of this bill, but not all, so we are setting our account goal at $3,500.
If you are able to help, even in a small way, we would appreciate it SO much! Feel free to share with others and please feel free to ask us any questions you have. As always, your prayers are much appreciated as well. For now, Marty is feeling pretty good and enjoying retirement (he retired last September) and taking on the role of “house hubby”. We continue to live life one day at a time, thankful for God’s grace and trusting Him with whatever comes.
Resting in His Grace,
Cathrine & Marty
P.S. Here is a link to a quick overview of CLL from the Mayo Clinic if you are interested.
Organizer
Cathrine Parker Thiel
Organizer
Spokane, WA