Hello Everyone
I am new to this site. My name is Jeannette and I was diagnosed with CML in May 2007.
My username is Fenton because that's my husbands name. He is the one who started looking for information on CML not long after I was diagnosed.
I only logged on today, 9 months later.
I have hardly looked at anything to do with CML because I thought that if I keep reading about the disease, it would make me become obsessed with it. I considered that if I read about treatments and disease progression, I would start imagining symptoms because I read about them.
I have now decided to read more information about the subject and how other people are coping with CML.
I started on Glivec 400mg daily in May after diagnosis (I had stem cell harvesting just before treatment) and have had a very successful response, with the Haematologist confident that I am hitting the correct targets to be in molecular remission in due course.
I have 3 brothers and 1 sister and 1 brother is a match for me should I require bone marrow transplant.
I chickened out of the spirit trial.
I am a Junior Sister on an Ear, Nose, Throat, Facial and Ophthalmic surgical ward and on diagnosis knew nothing about CML itself and very little about leukaemia as a whole.
I am 46.
Prior to diagnosis, I went through an extreme amount of stress which carried on over a long period of time (about 4 years before diagnosis).
I did wonder whether the stress 'set it all off'. But many many people go through exteme stress over long periods of time especially in countries of severe hardship and I don't believe incidence is higher for them.
I am so pleased with the results of the Glivec (I am now on 300mg per day because I became neutropenic).
I do get stomach upsets, bone pain, tiredness and spells of poor concentration BUT these symptoms are a small price to pay for the excellent response I am enjoying in my improved blood results.
I send my regards and thoughts to all of you experiencing this disease and your families because they go through the mill as well
Jeannette
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