My plan is to not die - Broadcaster Mel Homer has kicked cancer’s butt

Mel Homer was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, an aggressive form of blood cancer, and unfortunately got the news at work.

In a post on social media, she recounted her first round of chemo.

“I was admitted that day, and started aggressive chemo 5 days later. I didn’t get home again for 5 and a half weeks,” she wrote.

But after 4 months in the hospital, 4 aggressive chemo sessions, 5 (or 6 she can’t remember) bone marrow biopsies, a couple of leukemia mutations, a Stem Cell Transplant, and much, much more in between; she’s able to successfully say that she’s cancer free.

“I don’t think I realized how much it was weighing on my mind,” she told rova.

“I was just so sure that it was going to come back positive and I would still have leukemia. So when my doctor gave me a special call and said, ‘Look, good news, you’re leukemia-free…’ It was such a relief.”

But the road to recovery is still going to be a long one for Homer, who’s dealing with the after effects of treatment.

“I'm still pretty much at home. I can't really get out… it’s because my immune system is virtually non-existent,” she explained.

“Because the thing is I’m not just physically really quite weak, I've lost all my muscle but also my mental. Chemo brain is a real thing… It's like menopause and chemotherapy on top of each other, so you’re just really foggy.”

She added that celebrating the little things really helped her in the journey.

“I have been able to go out to a park and to an open-air café with a friend the other day for the first time in months and months and months!”

Homer said that it’ll be up to 2 or 3 years until she’s officially considered cured, and is focusing on getting all the ‘baby vaccinations’ again.

In the meantime, the broadcaster told rova that she’s fighting against the aforementioned brain fog to get back on the airwaves. If not now, then in a couple months.