Michael, my husband, Aged 66 was diagnosed with Myelofibrosis in March 2014 He had a Bells Palsy episode in 2012 and was admitted to hospital as we thought it was a stroke and he has had headaches ever since. The hospital said he had a low platelet count and mentioned Thrombocytosis in a letter to…
My name is Sally and my MPN story began in April 2012 when a visit to my GP resulted in a referral to the haemotology department at my local hospital and my first, (but far from last,) bone marrow biopsy. Myelofibrosis was diagnosed and I was sent home with leaflets and the knowledge this was…
I am a 70 year old man living in the wilds of Wiltshire and still going strong whilst living with ET. I started in the rubber industry in 1963 after leaving school and worked for a tyre company in the west of England, . I stayed in the rubber industry another 15 years and then…
Having previously lived in Spain, I am now resident in a beautiful part of France, with views of the Pyrenees in the Ariege. We had just signed for the house, and returned to Spain, when I started to get incredible itching after a shower. I knew our local doctor would say: ‘Well, it could be…
At 59 I was looking forward to retirement and all I was going to do. It was summer term at the college where I worked and we were busy doing invigilating for all the exams. Three times in a week my ankles swelled up after standing for long periods. The third time it happened I…
I’m a 53 year old bloke from North London and I was diagnosed with essential thrombocythaemia about 16 years ago. Under the care of my consultant, I’ve been taking interferon alpha which to date has controlled my blood counts very effectively. At this point, I have a completely normal life, whatever that means. Numb on right…
My name is Sally, I am 71 years of age and I have ET. I was diagnosed in 2008 following a routine blood test which showed an abnormally high platelet count. I was offered the choice of three hospitals to go to for specialist treatment and I chose one in Ashford, Kent because it could…
I was flabbergasted when, in December 2013, I was diagnosed with essential thrombocythaemia. I had thought that I was perfectly healthy – in fact I had visited my doctor for the first time in four years with symptoms totally unrelated to essential thrombocythaemia. The doctor treated me and also decided that, as I was in…
Twelve years ago if you had asked me what E.T stood for I probably, like many others would have replied “A funny alien on a bicycle!” Like so many sufferers I had been unwell for a while, even as a nursing sister I did not recognise my symptoms. Endless night sweats were an early Menopause,…
I was first diagnosed with polycythemia vera when I was 46. I am now 74.The discovery of the disease was quite by accident, although I had not been feeling very well. I was due to have a minor operation and a blood test was taken. It was found that my blood was quite thick and…