Bonnie Polla

My story started in June of 2014 when I felt I had a case of the flu. After seeing my family doctor and having blood work, they told me to go to the ER immediately. I was told there that I had leukemia and they could not treat me at Lehigh Valley Hospital and I would have to be transferred to U of Penn or Hershey. I chose Penn and think that they saved my life several times over the past 11 months. I had acute mylogenous leukemia.

I went through induction chemo and was hospitalized fo 30 days the first time. Next was consolidation chemo, that went well, except that I got a fungal infection in the lungs that spread everywhere. I am still on anti-fungal meds. The good news is that I went into remission and had my stem cell transplant on Dec. 3, 2014. My brother was a perfect match, which has proven to be wonderful because so far, no graft versus host disease. I also had a blood infection prior to my transplant, and recently was hospitalized for renal failure. 

I feel that all the staff at Penn have done a wonderful job. The nurses on Rhoads 3, 6 and 7 were kind and caring. Even though I have had a lot of ups and downs, I am grateful to God that I am still here. I have a wonderful, supportive family. My husband, daughters and sisters were wonderful. My sister, Josie, spent most of my stay in my room to help take care of me. 
We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner that was hosted by HEADtrong. It was great and we were happy to meet so many others that were going through the same thing. 

My battle is not over, but things are looking good and I am getting stronger every day.