Essential Thrombocythemia
My Diagnosis
Its 06 feb 2019 and i was diagnosed yesterday!
It all started in october when i was feeling a bit tired and had a yellowish hue in my eyes so i decided to go to my GP for a checkup and a blood test to make sure everything was ok!
i am 36 weigh 111 kg but im a weight lifter...i go the gym 6 days a week im a non smoker i don't eat a lot of sugar and was drinking quite a bit but only beer and of course Guinness i haven't drank alcohol since october!!!
so i had my check up and a few days later my blood test and all was going ok until about 10 days later when the doc called me to ask how i was feeling??? i said i feel ok and he replied that my platelets were a bit high and he wanted to refer me to a hematologist!
so i went to see the hematologist at which time my platelets were at 860. he sent me for a CT scan with dye, a number of blood tests and a bone marrow aspiration (which i haven't done yet)
the day after my blood test i got a call from the hematologist telling me that i have to go on medication straight away so the faxed my pharmacy and i went and collected a course of Allopurinol and Hydroxyurea!
i googled both drugs to see what they were for and i instantly start freaking out!!!
i was convinced i had cancer!
my appointment to see the hematologist was moved up by a month and when i went to see him he told me i had ET and my platelet level was at 1200!!
i went for another blood test that day to see how i was responding to the drugs and my platelets had gone down to 920 in 5 days!
so it was a good sign that i was responding well to the drugs!!!
i'm not sure if im JAK2 positive or negative as i kind of went blank when he was talking to me!
I DON'T consider what i have to be cancer despite what some sites suggest and i am optimistic that we can all live normal lives without too much issues!
i'm kind of glad i caught it when i did instead of having a stroke or a clot!
id love to talk to anyone about the disease and what symptoms you feel!
i am always dizzy and feel a weird pressure in my head!
i don't feel to fatigued or tired but i have only diagnosed a day!
i have been getting pains in my legs and intense restless leg syndrome which i never had before!
I look forward to talking to anyone about their condition.
Regards
James Treacy
Dublin, Ireland!!!
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