
Candid With Cancer #8 – My Second Cancer Diagnosis
Thomas Ashley details his battle against AML as part of a new weekly blog
Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) is a form of leukaemia where you have an increase in your white blood cells.
In CML, your bone marrow (the spongey part inside your bones) is producing too many myeloid cells, which are underdeveloped white blood cells that don’t work properly.
CML often develops slowly over several years, and is most common in people aged between 60 – 65.
Roughly, CML makes up 15 out of 100 leukaemia cases.
The majority of CML patients are asymptomatic, meaning little to no symptoms, and CML is only picked up through a blood test from their GP.
For some, where they have a much higher count of white blood cells, some patients experience:
– pain from an enlarged spleen
– Anemia
– Tiredness
– Bone pains
Treatment depends on if you’re asymptomatic or have a very high white blood cell count.
If you have a very high blood count, you could be put on a special machine that helps to skim off some of the extra white blood cells.
You could also be given medication to control and bring the white blood cell count down.
Thomas Ashley details his battle against AML as part of a new weekly blog
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