I Won the First Round
Monday, January 4, 2010
By: Robert Schywalsky

Lymphocytic Leukemia. It didn't affect me much for years, and then in the fall of 2008 I woke up with swollen lymph nodes in my neck. It was painful. I thought it would go away like they always did in the past...

Six months later, I was scheduled for my first round of chemotherapy. I had a really tough time in that first round. My white cell count dropped from over 100 to 8 within days. I was weaker than I had ever been in my life. I had very bad nausea. It was so bad I went to the emergency room for help. The next 5 months of treatment were an ordeal, but not as bad as that first round. I survived it though, and right now I'm healthy. The chemo worked for now, but it won't last forever. I will need chemo again or even better I need a cure.
When I was first diagnosed I was told I had a "good" cancer and that it was one of the cancers that was very slow to progress. I was also told there was no cure. I was still a newlywed at the time, and we had a toddler. My goal has always been to see him become a man. It is what keeps me going. I worry that I won't.
I was in my late 30's at the time and found out that the average age of those diagnosed with my disease was in people's 60's. Most of these people were living long enough to die of old age. I have no idea how long I will live. I want to live long enough to see my boy become a man.