Andrea was initially diagnosed with essential thrombocythemia after her primary care doctor noticed her platelets steadily rising. Ten years later it had progressed to myelofibrosis. She lives in Texas with her wife (and caregiver), three dogs and one cat. After working with American Airlines and Sabre Holdings for 30 years she chose an early retirement and pursued other opportunities, including working in a bike shop (she’s an avid cyclist), flower shop, consulting firm and for the last six years with Apple.
What made you decide to have a Stem Cell Transplant (SCT)?
It was an exceptionally hard decision to make. I struggled with it up to and including the day before transplant. I had been feeling good, I was in and out of several clinical trials, the last of which had worked well for six years. But I realized my options for the future were very limited. I had become red blood cell transfusion dependent. My age was advancing, I had exhausted all relevant clinical trials and available drugs and I was physically pushing harder to do things I loved. It was clear to me that waiting “it” out and hoping for another miracle drug or a SCT were my only options.
How did you prepare for the procedure?
I like to be as prepared as possible, so I found speaking with actual survivors helped me get answers to all my questions that doctors may not have known or had time for. I spoke to several SCT recipients, especially those who had the same MPN as me. I read as much information as possible such as newsletters, blogs, and other online sources. It did not dwell on the less positive comments! Gathering as much information as possible from a variety of sources gave me an idea of what was to come. Keeping in mind that everyone is different, everyone I connected with gave me tidbits that I could refer to before, during and after transplant.
Andrea was initially diagnosed with essential thrombocythemia after her primary care doctor noticed her platelets steadily rising. Ten years later it had progressed to myelofibrosis. She lives in Texas with her husband (and caregiver), three dogs and one cat. After working with American Airlines and Sabre Holdings for 30 years she chose an early retirement and pursued other opportunities, including working in a bike shop (she’s an avid cyclist), flower shop, consulting firm and for the last six years with Apple.
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