Goodbye Leukemia, I Hope to Never See You Again

Once upon a time,

a long,long time ago,

Far, far away,

in a land called CA

there lived Loo

and a little girl named Suzie Q

And she was a happy little girl,

who loved to sing and dance and twirl

but when she met Loo,

all she could say was boo-hoo.

Loo was short for leukemia

acute lymphoblastic leukemia

in the land of CA

and you might say OK

that’s not so bad

but really is sad…

Because CA are letters that start the word cake

for words like candy and cupcake

so those words with CA sound yummy

and are fun for your tummy.

And some might saythat it’s important to pray.

To ask G-d to make Loo go away.

Suzie Q is really me,

The story is quite long, you see.

cuz Suzie Q was a busy girl

who loved to sing and dance and twirl

She loved to play with her friends, 

and messages she would send

To say, “sorry, I can’t come out to play

The reason is worse than a rainy day

I’m very sorry because I’m sick

Having Loo is not something I would pick.”

“I really did not have a clue

That Loo is like a bad boo-boo

all over you,

in your body, in your blood,

you can’t wash it out, even if you scrub.”

There are a lot of kids who have been there,

and all the doctors and nurses really care.

Loo didn’t only happen to me

Or one kid, or two or even three.

Loo badly affects a lot of us

But the doctors and nurses make a fuss

And give us care and lots of hydration

But let me give you an explanation.

When you are first born and are brand new

300 bones are inside of you

Down to 206 they go.

The middle of each bone has a tube that’s narrow

The stuff inside is called “bone marrow”

All the bad stuff happens in the bone marrow

Inside the bones, in tubes so narrow.

The red blood cells carry oxygen,

The platelets “stop the bleed!”

The white blood cells fight the infection

White blood cells, “Lead, lead, lead!”

We cannot see what’s inside these bones

Maybe we could use little drones 

When Suzie Q was having a bad day,

She would sit up in her hospital bed and say,

“Leukemia cells, leukemia cells,

What are you doing?”

They would answer her,

“We are like coffee, just cooking and brewing”

And Suzie Q would call out again,

“Leukemia cells,leukemia cells,

What are you doing?”

And they would answer, “we are growing and stewing!”

“Leukemia cells, leukemia cells, what are you doing?”

“We are canoeing, reviewing, undoing and spewing

We are using, and moving and misconstruing your cells”

Red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets too

Combine together to form the goo

That’s called “bone marrow” inside the bones,

And usually things are good at home.

Now back to the story of Suzie Q

Whose bone marrow was infected by Loo.

This is true, it’s not a rumor

The white cells merged and caused a tumor.

Because of this bad, bad behavior

Suzie Q needed the doctors to save her.

To the hospital she was taken

Hoping the diagnosis was mistaken.

Tests were ordered for Suzie Q to take

CT scans and PET scans, to find where it ached.

They wanted her to have an MRI too,

It’s a test with a machine that you must go through

You lie very still, like when you are in bed.

And slide in a machine from your toes to your head.

It sees inside of your bones and your skin,

And makes pictures to show your doctors where to begin.

The hospital nurses give you medicine,

They first make a port, then they will stick in a pin

The port stays there ready for taking blood draws

Though getting a needle makes me want to pause…

Suzie Q has a doctor named Dr. Niyongere

Who said,“it’s so important to look cute with what you wear.”

So Suzie Q has dresses in blues, purples and reds

So she can feel and look her best when she takes her meds.

Suzie Q was told that she needed treatment

Chemotherapy was what she would get.

Suzie Q keeps a smile on her beautiful face

with all this chemo she has to keep up her pace.

As Suzie Q gets better, she notices things,

Like her fingers swell and she can’t wear her rings.

She learned that the chemo caused a lot of conditions,

That didn’t quite go with the drugs’ healing mission.

Your hair might fall out

and you might want to shout,

but your hair will grow back

and your life will get on track.

You will start to feel stronger

even if the chemo lasts longer.

Eventually you can be good as new

in everything you want to do

and say good-bye to Loo.

Good-bye Loo, Tootle loo, See ya later, alligator.

I wanna say good-bye to my leukemia

And I hope to not even have dreams about ya.

Please leave my body alone,

And don’t call me on my phone

I want to play with my friends,

And have my regular life again.

Thank you Dr. Niyongere, Marie and Jen

Please keep me well so we don’t do this again.

The end.

This post was written and submitted by Sue Futeral-Myrowitz. The article reflects the views of Sue Futeral-Myrowitz and not of CURE®. This is also not supposed to be intended as medical advice.

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