Sorry you feel so "up in the air". That is an issue with ET (I was diagnosed in 2000). The doctors don't know what to do with us! Yes, the platelets are over-producing (normal is 300 - 400 million) in an ET patient. Everyone is DIFFERENT though and YOU know your body better than any doctor and YOU must read up and educate yourself. Is ET "cancer"? I think it is technically because it involved the proliferation of cells, HOWEVER - these cells are NOT cancer cells, the mechanism that "turns off" the production is broken. So, there are too many, but they are not "cancerous" as in a foreign cell invading your body. It's also incurable and chronic (yeah, not to be a pessimist). We have to learn how to deal with it physically and emotionally day by day. It's important to learn about what you have but not to allow it to consume your life! Life is already too short to be obsessed with an illness. Hope this helps a tiny bit!