Lindy from the surgery rang and the appointment was made for 2pm.
Myrle’s opening words were ” I have some really bad news for you”. I had thoughts Hep A or B, maybe C, but she said you have Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Well what to say? For a moment I did think ‘Why me?’ but my thoughts quickly moved on to “what do I need to do?”
Myrle suggested with a tear in her eye that I needed to check into Launceston General Hospital ASAP. I felt sorry for her as she was obviously very shaken with the delivery of the news and as I said it was a bit tough – I’d only met her once previously and here she was delivering the bad news!
Jan whisked me into town and I got checked in through Launceston ED where people came running with needles and tubes to collect blood samples. We had discussed the notion of flying direct to Melbourne to check in at Peter MacCallum Cancer institute/Royal Melbourne Hospital but felt I had to start somewhere ASAP.
I’d sent an urgent text to my good friend John Preddy and awaited a call back to discuss best options.
Geoff Beats Leukemia 
Reading this is like reading my own story, except the doctor delivered the news standing in front of me. All I could think before she came in the room to tell me why my platelets were so low was, ‘Man, I hope it’s not my spleen. I really don’t want surgery!’
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