Hello there, dear readers. I hope you are all having a wonderful week 🙂 The weather here is unseasonably cool, so I’m taking full advantage of it, and writing outside with my wonderful writing buddy, Tesla! (This note is from when I started this blog last weekend lol)

I’d like to start this entry by talking about last weekend. M and I had a fantastic time in Chicago. I was so thrilled that he was able to come with me to the Living well with MPNs meeting!! Firstly I’d like to thank the MPN Research Foundation, and Patient Power for putting on this wonderful event! I was so very grateful to be able to join everyone there. One thing I was surprised by was that it was completely free! The day started at 9:45, they offered breakfast, there were several groups set up with tables, and information. I am going to say right now, that unfortunately my day began with a pretty terrible migraine. My husband and I walked from our hotel to Northwestern’s campus, and just as we arrived in the lobby and got situated, it began. The aura and the pain were terrible for about the first 2 hours of the day, so I was unable to interact with the groups out in the lobby 😦 Hopefully someone who may have been there will have gotten information from the groups that they would be willing to share with me!

As we were called in to the auditorium, everyone seemed a little bit nervous. Kind of like walking into a lecture hall for the first time in college…people mostly kept to themselves at first, and weren’t really interacting just yet. But then as the speaker, Jeff Folloder began to ask questions, and we all started to notice one another nodding along with the responses, and we (at least I) realized that these people were all just like me…we (I) began to warm up a bit 🙂 (I’m referring back to my notes just now, but I’m sure I’m going to miss a few things…I’ll link to the videos on Patient Power’s website as soon as they are posted though 🙂 )

One of the questions that seemed to be a hotly contested issue was the question of age as it relates to the treatment of patients. It would seem that the general consensus USED to be that, for some reason as soon as a patient turned 60, they became significantly higher risk. The implication from the experts (Dr. Brady Stein, and Dr. Alison Moliterno) is that age does not really correlate with ones risk as strongly as the medical community used to think. It is more an issue of whether you have a history of thrombotic events, or heart disease, or other issues that may not mix terribly well with an increased risk of clotting. You could be 79 and have the blood vessels of a teenager, or be in your 30s with the circulatory system of a 90 year old. It really varies by patient.

What made me happiest was how many times I heard the doctors talk about advocating for yourself, and being assertive. I was so, so happy to hear it. It is so very true, and I feel so strongly about it.

The Patient Power event was extremely educational, and I am so thankful that I was able to go.

Personal Revelation:

One of the things that was spoken about a lot was the “itching” and “burning” symptoms in PV/ET patients. I’ve never really thought about it before…but apparently not everyone actually experiencing burning/tingling/itching in their extremities when they take a hot bath/shower. I never really considered it a symptom. For 9 years I completely ignored one of the most complained about symptoms in the MPN world (other than fatigue, that is…). I cannot begin to tell you how dumb I felt when I realized that. lol. It just never occurred to me that it was a symptom of my disease.

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I’ve got a lot more to say on the subject, but I’m going to head off to continue to prepare for this Saturday in San Antonio! Are any of you going? Do you know anyone that’s going? Please share this with anyone you think might be going! I hope to see you all there! Wish me luck, please 🙂

As always, you are your own best advocate. if you do not take care of yourself, who will?

Thank you!

Until next time,

Lina