'Cushioned by knowledge,' Christianer finds help at CIS for husband's AML

Thursday, February 21, 2002

Vol 8, Issue 4

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[This is the first in a series of articles showcasing the Cancer Information Service, which recently relocated to the second floor of the new Yale Building on the Day Campus. For more information about CIS, stop by, send interdepartmental mail to J2-400 or call 1-800-4-CANCER.]

By GAIL CHRISTIANER

Last April, my husband, Chris, awoke from a sound sleep, very short of breath. To his surprise, the emergency room tests didn't show heart or lung problems. Instead, his hematocrit (the proportion, by volume, of the blood that consists of red blood cells) was below 20, and he didn't have enough red blood cells in his body to deliver oxygen properly.

The tests progressively eliminated the other possible causes, and Chris was diagnosed with leukemia, but it took several weeks for tests that led to the final diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

The minute leukemia was a possibility, I went to the Cancer Information Service. The director, Nancy Zbaren, provided me with a wealth of general information in handouts and booklet form. Most important for me, she and Pia Fish showed me how to get the most value from the Internet sites of the National Cancer Institute that describe the range of leukemias and their treatments.

Having access to accurate information really helped us as we fought to understand treatment and outcomes issues. Once his AML was determined to be a particular subtype, I went back to CIS, where Pia located the most current studies that applied to his form of AML. Cushioned by the knowledge CIS helped me gain, we both had a much easier time understanding how to get the best out of the treatment process he went through and what he may face in the future.

He's in remission, and we celebrated with a trip to Paris this month - and made plans to return!

[Gail Christianer is network coordinator for Public Health Sciences Shared Computing.]

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