Lana _ New Member

[Guest guest]

Welcome Lana to your new lifestyle with CML, you are among friends. The day you

found this website was your lucky day. I don't think you will find us wanting,

there are many responders who will try to explain what is happening to you and

talk about alternate drugs if you have too many side effects and even drug

contraindications that we need to be aware of.

Of course we want you to believe in your doctors and have faith in them, but

they are not always up to speed if they are not CML specialists. While not

wanting to offend them, we can bring timely articles that are specific to you.

Be careful where you get your information. Not all blogs have correct

information, they are just someone's opinion. Trust, but verify. You can

always research the subject to know if it is up to date or even true. While

many blogs are useful in relating their problems on some drugs that you may be

experiencing the same side effects, then it will prove helpful to know you are

not alone in experiencing this. I have told some of my doctors about side

effects reported here and they said they were not aware of them, so you can be a

useful tool to the doctors, as well. Keep records of your medical history in

your computer and keep it up to date and bring a copy to your doctor each time

you visit. I print mine on colored paper, so it sticks out in their file and

when they ask a question, I point to my colored paper. If there is something

that I think is serious, I print in color to highlight the problem and change

the type size, so it stands out even more.

If you don't have a colored printer, you can use colored highlighters just as

well. My doctors like this and wanted to know where I got the idea. I said it

was something I would want to know if I was a doctor and easy to spot. Now they

ask for it when I have an appointment. Some have said it made their job easier

to have this information at their fingertips. Use whatever tools are available

to you, talk about anything, nothing is off the table. Just remember that we

can disagree without being disagreeable. We all have bad days, and we need to

hold each other up and allow them the space to talk about their feelings, we all

need to be validated.

Good luck and good health. Some of us are just sicker than others, but we do

all have something in common. It's sort of a herd mentality to group together

to protect each from the elements of hardship. We all get a turn to get on the

inside.

Carpe Diem,

Lottie Duthu

Diagnosed 7/96