On dec 16th 1997 my husband was diagnosed with cml, we were told he had 3 to 5 years if he was lucky, well on monday 19th march 2007 we reached our silver wedding, we went to gretna for a few days.
thanks to the doctors,the STI trials and now glivec he's still here, the cml is still there but kept in check. he has extreme fatigue and most things are an effort at least he's still here and been able to see our children grow up. this site has kept us informed and helped us make choices, to all who participate many thanks.
alison and billy.
You are here
we made our silver wedding
Diana G
Dear Alison and Billy,
Many congratulations on your silver wedding anniversary! It must have been terrible for you when Billy was originally diagnosed just before Christmas back in 1997:what dreadful news at what should have been a happy time. But how good to hear that you have just had reason to celebrate. Good luck to you both and very best wishes for lots more happy anniversaries.
Diana
I was diagnosed in Feb 1999 and told I had the 3-5 years at best and my greatest sorrow at time was that I would not get to see my grandchildren. I am now a proud grandma with Tamzin who is 27 months and I also look after her while my daughter works and now No.2 is on the way. I couldn't be happier and I can't say it's all been easy but I am now free of CML and living a normal life. More and more we will see patients surviving CML for many many years in fact living a normal lifespan specially with all the new drugs and the ongoing research in the race to cure CML. For the old timers before the age of glivec though this is a major achievement and Skip Duffie comes to mind, he was dx in 1978 and is still going strong !
So all of you out there, there is life after CML and it certainly is not the death sentence it used be.
With very best wishes
Elizabeth
How good that you could reach this memorable milestone. I know that in 1997 treatment options were not what they are today, but even in 2003 when my wife was diagnosed, we were NOT led to believe that Glivec would give hope for more than a couple of years.
I remember my wife's diagnosis like it was yesterday - it was a total bombshell for us both, NOT helped by the manner in which she was told!!
She had the unfortunate experience of being seen initially in our local district general hospital by two different locum consultant haematologists, Givec wasn't even an option in that hospital at the time.
We very quickly got a referral to our local teaching hospital (UHW Cardiff)where Glivec was offered at the first appointment and now have much more confidence in the team looking after Anne.
Anne was told last summer that she is in molecular remission - having undectable pcr in both marrow and peripheral blood.
She had another bone marrow biopsy yesterday, and goes back to clinic next month when we hope that the results will be available, and will continue to show undectable pcr.
Best Wishes to all who continue in the fight against CML
Paul
Alison and Billy
Congratulations! What a great milestone.
We all remember the day of diagnosis and the shock of a prognosis. Val was diagnosed just 6 months after we married in our mid-fifties - we had both been through divorces. We had a magical wedding day with 120 friends and family, all of whom were truly delighted for us. The wonderful happiness we had found together suddenly seemed under threat by the forces of CML that we could barely understand, but the 2 to 3 years prognosis given to Val was all too easy to understand.
Like so many people, we were very down for a while. But then, we found this site and that was the beginning of coming back from the dark place we had been. Suddenly, we realised that the prognosis might well be wrong and that Glivec was having remarkable results. We were able to get back to living life to the full (yes, there are side effects, of course, and they can be distressing but they are bearable compared with the consequences of not taking Glivec). We have learned to live more, to enjoy friends more and to travel more to as many of the places we have always thought about but never got round to. Every day is special.
Val thought she would never see her new baby granddaughter grow up; now she is nearly 4 years of age and there are now two other grandaughters and a grandson (two each to each of her two sons). Watching them grow is one of Val's greatest pleasures and long may it go on.
We all have a great deal to be thankful for, even though we wish we had never had to face up to CML. Val's last PCR was "undetectable" and we never thought that would happen.
So, thanks again to Sandy, Elizabth and David for this site and to the Consultants at Stoke Mandeville and the Hammersmith, not forgetting the man who made Glivec possible, Dr Brian Druker. Thanks too to friends and family who have been so supportive and the love we have both been shown by so many people.
David