Hi, everone, and may I firstly wish you good health!
I am 58, and I played rugby until I was 34 (on the wing) and I have been suffering from ischaemic heart disease for over 21 years (heart attack at 37), and have many operations for this (including bypass surgery and angioplasty with stents), and I am fairly stable on medication.
The heart disease was probably caused by familial hypolipodaemia, since my HDL count was, and still is, 0.7, instead of the normal 1.5. My total cholesterol count is 2.6, so the balance of HDL to LDL is fairly normal now. My gall bladder was removed when I was 23. My brother died at 55, my uncle at 59, granfather at 59, all of heart attacks. My father and his sister both had heart attacks, but did not die from them.
I developed CML in February 2004, diagnosed in June 2004, and I have been taking Glivec since. My blood counts are normal, but I have noticed a lot of blood blisters on my hands, which I believe, is normally associated with low platelet count.
Due to chronic diarrhoea, which is now unaffected by loperamide, except in extreme doses or when combined with codeine, I was given an appointment at the Gastro-Enterological department at my local hospital. The consultant remarked that the diarrhoea may be caused by the Glivec (denied by my haematologist). After examination, the consultant informed me that my spleen was swollen, which explained the pain in my left side, and the likely cause was CML.
Does anyone know if this is significant, and what can be done?
