Mai R

I am now 65 and was diagnosed with PV in 2005 when I was 57. I had a Well Woman blood test which showed my red blood count was close to 55 yet the previous year the counts had been normal. I was referred to the Radcliffe Hospital and during the consultation I had my…

Sally R

Sally writes I had no serious illness before PV. I was asthmatic but well controlled with Milflonil and it never stopped my very active life, breeding, competing at top level with horses and ponies , and being a busy professional artist and sculptor. Diagnosis in 2010 was a life changing shock. That same year I…

Sylvia R

Michael, my husband, Aged 66 was diagnosed with Myelofibrosis in March 2014 He had a Bells Palsy episode in 2012 and was admitted to hospital as we thought it was a stroke and he has had headaches ever since. The hospital said he had a low platelet count and mentioned Thrombocytosis in a letter to…

Chris A

I am a 70 year old man living in the wilds of Wiltshire and still going strong whilst living with ET. I started in the rubber industry in 1963 after leaving school and worked for a tyre company in the west of England, . I stayed in the rubber industry another 15 years and then…

Cecilia J

Having previously lived in Spain, I am now resident in a beautiful part of France, with views of the Pyrenees in the Ariege. We had just signed for the house, and returned to Spain, when I started to get incredible itching after a shower. I knew our local doctor would say: ‘Well, it could be…

Marley A

At 59 I was looking forward to retirement and all I was going to do. It was summer term at the college where I worked and we were busy doing invigilating for all the exams. Three times in a week my ankles swelled up after standing for long periods. The third time it happened I…

Jon M

I’m a 53 year old bloke from North London and I was diagnosed with essential thrombocythaemia about 16 years ago. Under the care of my consultant, I’ve been taking interferon alpha which to date has controlled my blood counts very effectively. At this point, I have a completely normal life, whatever that means. Numb on right…

Sally P

My name is Sally, I am 71 years of age and I have ET. I was diagnosed in 2008 following a routine blood test which showed an abnormally high platelet count. I was offered the choice of three hospitals to go to for specialist treatment and I chose one in Ashford, Kent because it could…