Hi Peter,
Welcome to the group that none of us wanted to join. Your diagnosis story isn't really that strange except that your WBC is one of the higher ones. Most are in the 200-300 range. I think the majority of us were diagnosed "by accident" and as a result surprised our doctors. Here's my story. I had been having night sweats so I went to my GP. His answer was "some people are sweatier than others". I was relieved to know that it wasn't anything that would require any testing because I'm not fond of being poked or prodded. I knew it couldn't be menopause because I was only in my late 20's. Well months passed and eventually years and it just got worse. By this point I was sleeping with a bath towel and soaking through it every night. All my friends were older and some were going through menopause and said that even then, they didn't sweat THAT much. I thought something had to be wrong because it got to the point where the bath towel was so wet that it wouldn't dry for the next night and I had to go out and buy a whole new set of bath towels and more sheets for the bed because I couldn't keep up with the laundry everyday. I kid you not, the towels were so wet, I could actually wring them out in the morning. I got on the trusty internet and looked up night sweats and found leukemia everywhere. That made me panic so I found a new GP and made an apointment. By this time I had also moved to a new province since the last time I had mentioned the night sweats to a doctor(I'm Canadian). I saw this new doctor and mentioned how bad I was sweating and that I had seen leukemia on the internet. He checked me over and reassured me that it couldn't be leukemia because I would have an enlarged spleen, swollen lymph nodes, extremem fatigue etc.... I had no other symptoms. Well I was tired, but who isn't right? Other than that, I was carrying on a normal, busy life... finishing up my University degree that I had posponed earlier in life, volunteering for a number of organizations and doing what everyone else does in the prime of their life. Nevertheless, he said I'll send you for a CBC because they're a good idea to have once in a while anyway. Well I sat on the requisition for months because he had reassured me enough to think that there was no hurry. Finally I did go (on a Monday) and got a call two days later (on the Wednesday) telling me to come in and discuss my blood results. He told me how shocked he was to see my WBC at 85 and my platelets in the millions and that he had talked to a hematologist who was fairly sure I had CML. I had an apointment the next morning (Thursday) with the hematologist where I had a BMB and started Hydrea. I was never hospitalized. Before I started Gleevec, my hematologist sent me to another hematologist who he felt would be better suited to treat me because he had more experience in CML. This new doctor suggested that I have a BMT because of my age (I was 31 at this point) but I insisted on trying Gleevec first. I had done a month of research on the net and was confident that I was making the right choice although I don't think he appreciated that I had a mind of my own. The funny thing was that Gleevec had just been approved in Canada a few months earlier so had I gone for my blood test when I first got the requisition, who knows what treatment I might have endded up with. So to make a long story short. I started 400mg of Gleevec and reached CCR after 5 months. After 9 months I was PCR negative. After a year with this doctor who kept telling me that no matter how well I did with Gleevec, I'd still eventually need a transplant, I went back to the first hematologist I had seen in the beginning who I got along better with and I've been with him ever since. It's now been 3 years and I continue to do well. Take care, Tracey dx Jan 2002 400mg Gleevec Feb 2002 CCR July 2002 PCR neg Nov 2002 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/8zSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> New! Sign up for local CML support group meetings in your local community at http://cml.meetup.com Apply for Commercial Real Estate loans online and submit your deal to dozens of hungry lenders in just minutes. Loan programs for all types of business and commercial real estate. Apply anytime at http://realestatezoo.com CML (Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Support List) --------------------------------- Part Of CMLHope.Com An International Community Of CML Patients For more information: http://cmlhope.com Post Message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To No Mail/Web: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To Digest: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change To Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] CML Group Web Site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CML Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CML/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
