It has been a year since I posted here, and I think it is high time I gave an update for any current or future sufferer of leukaemia that might be reading this and thinking, "so what happened".
Well, the answer is rather satisfyingly that nothing has happened, at least nothing related to cancer! Today I had an appointment at the clinic, which I now attend at six month intervals. Sadly, the nursing staff seem to have rotated, so there were no familiar faces there, but the consultants are still the same.
The likelihood of a relapse is now very low (1 or 2% at most), and to all intents and purposes it is like I was never ill. However, they continue to take a BCR-ABL test every six months just to be sure nothing has happened. My ferritin level was still slightly high six months ago, and if it has not dropped I will need to have more venesection (i.e. blood letting), I will find out next week.
My message to anyone suffering from leukaemia, and undergoing the chemotherapy regime and bone marrow transplant that I had, is that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and to keep a positive outlook. And of course to do what they tell you, however difficult it seems!
I think that surviving an aggressive cancer has made me treat life with even greater equanimity and optimism than I did previously. I am not saying for one moment that leukaemia is life enhancing, but there is a lot of truth in the clichet "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger"!
