New member

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Hi all.

Zavie mentioned this group to me and suggested I join and introduce

myself. After an initial period trying not to find out too much about CML nor

talk to other patients, I've become braver.

I'm 42 and live in London, UK, with my wife and two boys (7 and 10). I was Dx

in May 09 following a routine blood screen. No symptoms - but the screen showed

high platelets (> 1100) but only very slightly raised WBC (just 15). I was

referred to my local hospital which initially didn't think it was leukemia but

on doing cytogenics discovered 80% Ph+ve cells, which was a shock. My " break "

was also described as unusual and because of that, they referred me to the

Hammersmith hospital in London, under whose excellent care I've been since.

Fortunately, they said they saw no reason why imatinib wouldn't work. Being

" odd " I was worried but so far they have been proven right as my blood counts

were normal in just over 3 weeks, and settled down quickly. I've not had new

cytogenics done or FISH results yet, and the last time I went to the Hammersmith

they hadn't been able to do PCR. However, I'm also visiting my local hopsital

and they have just received PCR results from the Hammersmith. I'm a bit

cautious about them but they look good - 83% at diagnosis was 0.063% in

September - a little over 3 months. I was quite surprised and want to see that

confirmed by more tests, but it was good to see.

I now feel lucky to have been Dx'd in the imatinib era and more confident about

the future - especially seeing so many here who've been on Gleevec for so long.

I know it can stop working but 6 months ago I would have taken where I am now,

and side effects are few. To show some gratitude to my medics and esp the

Hammersmith, I've also begun to help out with fundraising for their research.

Every little bit helps and I've learned how easy (and fun) it can be to put

something back.

Looking forward to chatting to you, and good luck to you all.

Regards