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Submissions to "Patients' Stories" cannot be verified for their accuracy. They do not necessarily represent validated medical research. The reader should understand that these stories represent only the opinions of the authors and not the Hairy Cell Leukemia Research Foundation. This story is about my mother. She was first diagnosed with HCL in 1981. Back then they had no idea what she had. After 3 months in the hospital and a splenectomy she returned home weighting 65 pounds. She was alive and we were all grateful. She recovered beautifully. She went on to live 25 years disease free.In October, 2006, she went to the doctors. S he had had a cough for months and no one could figure out why. After several visits they finally pulled blood work. On October 23, 2006, she was admitted to the hospital. The diagnose hairy cell leukemia. It was back! It also came back with hepatitis type C. This came from the blood transfusion she had in 1981 before they tested blood. She never knew she had it. She did 5 days of chemo and then was sent home with an appointment with a liver doctor as now her liver was failing. After 23 days of being very ill from the chemo and unable to even stand for more then 5 minutes. She was readmitted to the hospital on November 26, 2006, with high ammonia levels from her liver. On December 3, she lapsed into another episode of high ammonia levels and into a coma. She died on Wednesday, December 6, 2006. We will never know if her leukemia was cured from the 5 days of chemo. I think she lived a long tome disease free from HCL. I am not sure if anyone else has gone into remission for so long. I just wanted to share my mothers story.
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