Living with Leukemia

We have been living with a skeleton in our closet. I wish we could have put a lock on the closet and kept it inside longer. Five years ago my husband Art was diagnoised with CLL. (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia) Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) and is a blood and bone marrow disease that usually gets worse slowly. Life changing events: You never forget where you were and what you doing when it happens. It was an unseasonably cold spring day in the south. The Bead Cruise was leaving from the Port of New Orleans. Art told me just before I boarded the ship. He said don't worry it's nothing. My white blood count is just a little elevated. I held him close and hugged him tight. I said I love you and walked down the terminal to board the ship.

That was when the skelton moved into the closet. It was March 2009.