What were the symptoms you noticed before being diagnosed with leukemia?

Before being diagnosed with leukemia, I noticed a range of symptoms that were often mild but kept growing in severity. Initially, my fatigue grew significantly and I found myself needing an abnormally large amount of sleep. No matter how much sleep I got, the fatigue would still linger as sort of a dull ache throughout my day-to-day life. Along with the tiredness came shortness of breath and lightheadedness whenever I did any kind of physical activity or strenuous exercise.

Additionally, I experienced frequent nosebleeds and gums that bled more than usual when brushing my teeth or eating certain food items like apples or popcorn kernels. My bones began to ache as if they had been strained by too much use after only a few hours on my feet, furthering the notion that something was wrong with me health wise. Lastly, as things moved from bad to worse—and before being diagnosed—I also became susceptible to easy bruising along with other general symptoms such as fever and chills; which is what ultimately led me to see a doctor for testing which then revealed the presence of leukemia in my blood system.