Hello-
In October 2007, I found out I was pregnant (yay!) and the OB
sent me to get all my bloodwork. Well my
platelet count came back in the 800s so my OB sent me to
hematologist ASAP. My hemo. repeated the
bloodwork and yep my platelets were elevated but they had dropped into the 700s. I kept having bloodwork every month and
finally he sent me for a Jak2 test. The
first one was inconclusive but the 2nd one came back positive. He was very surprised because I am only 28
but he said that with advances in testing, more and younger people are being diagnosed.
My platelet count for the last three months have been normal
so I am very grateful that my hematologist was on the ball and kept sending me
for tests. When he told me I had ET, I
went home and googled it and of course got freaked out. I then talked to him some more and he put me
in the low risk category and wont be doing anything until I have a BMB which
will be after I deliver my twin girls in June : )
He also assured me that most ET patients go on to lead very
normal lives with normal life expectancies but that I will need to be
monitored. Since I am super serious
about anything health related, I cant imagine that I will slack off with the
monthly monitoring he is suggesting.
I also talked to several close friends in the medical field
and they told me that the old mentality of a 10-15 life expectancy for ET was
reserved for elderly patients and that this was thought to be a disease of the
elderly. That really put things in perspective and made me feel better because
I plan to lead a long and happy life with my husband, my twin girls, and
anymore children we plan on having.
After I freaked out, I did realize that it is a good thing
they caught this now. It will allow me
and my doctors to be proactive, especially important for pregnant woman and
post partum. I am also lucky that I live in an area with excellent hospitals
and medical research (Pittsburgh, PA
in America).
Thats my story : )