Zekeystrong and his fight with Leukemia

What Is Leukemia? 

(www.webmd.com)

Leukemia is a blood cancer caused by a rise in the number of white blood cells in your body.

Those white blood cells crowd out the red blood cells and platelets that your body needs to be healthy. The extra white blood cells don’t work right.

These leukemia cells can’t fight infection the way normal white blood cells do. And because there are so many of them, they start to affect the way your organs work. Over time, you may not have enough red blood cells to supply oxygen, enough platelets to clot your blood, or enough normal white blood cells to fight infection.

The four main types of leukemia are:

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). This is the most common form of childhood leukemia. It can spread to your lymph nodes and central nervous system.

Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). This is the second most common form of childhood leukemia and one of the most common forms for adults.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). This is the other most common form of adult leukemia. Some kinds of CLL will be stable for years and won’t need treatment. But with others, your body isn’t able to create normal blood cells, and you’ll need treatment.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). With this form, you might not have noticeable symptoms. You might not be diagnosed with it until you have a routine blood test. People 65 and older have a higher risk of this type.

What is Parkinson's Disease? (www.webmd.com)

Parkinson’s disease affects the nerve cells in the brain that produce dopamine. Parkinson’s disease symptoms include muscle rigidity, tremors, and changes in speech and gait. After diagnosis, treatments can help relieve symptoms, but there is no cure.

You may not get all the symptoms. And you can’t predict how bad they’ll be, or how fast they’ll get worse. One person may have slight tremors but severe dementia. Another might have major tremors but no issues with thinking or memory. And someone else may have severe symptoms all around.

On top of that, the drugs that treat Parkinson’s work better for some people than others. All that adds up to a disease that’s very hard to predict.

Parkinson does follow a broad pattern. While it moves at different paces for different people, changes tend to come on slowly. Symptoms usually get worse over time, and new ones probably will pop up along the way.

Parkinson’s doesn’t always affect how long you live. But it can change your quality of life in a major way. After about 10 years, most people will have at least one major issue, like dementia or a physical disability.

Dementia and psychosis are two serious mental health issues that usually take a while to show up. Psychosis is a serious condition where you see or hear things that aren’t there, or believe in things that aren’t based in reality. Dementia means you can no longer think, remember, and reason well enough to carry on your normal life.

As you age, you’re more likely to have both conditions the longer you have Parkinson’s.

What Is Kidney Disease? (www.webmd.com)

Kidney disease can affect your body’s ability to clean your blood, filter extra water out of your blood, and help control your blood pressure. It can also affect red blood cell production and vitamin D metabolism needed for bone health.

You’re born with two kidneys. They’re on either side of your spine, just above your waist.

When your kidneys are damaged, waste products and fluid can build up in your body. That can cause swelling in your ankles, nausea, weakness, poor sleep, and shortness of breath. Without treatment, the damage can get worse and your kidneys may eventually stop working. That’s serious, and it can be life-threatening. If your kidneys don’t work well anymore, you’ll need dialysis to do their job.

Hemodialysis uses a machine with a mechanical filter to help cleanse your blood.