I have posted about this in the past but for those of you who will have missed it as posts gradually move back page by page this would be a reminder or new news.
I can’t emphasize how important checking different symptoms you get need checking out with a doctor. A few of you already know my situation and I am sorry for those who this will be old news to.
I have never really had much in the way of sickness in my life after leaving school, just the odd little ulcers or minor problems, very rarely did I ever take time off work for anything. About 5 years ago I passed my very first kidney stone and believe me, if you have never had that happen when it does it is total agony, as moths went by I passed them regularly and they came easier and usually in small bits which were not as bad to pass, about a year after passing the first I stated peeing blood for a couple of days a month, being the sort of guy who tries to carry on and doesn’t like doctors of hospitals I didn’t worry and kept it to myself, assuming the bleeding was due to the stones, as time went on I found myself getting tired easily and even winding the landing legs up on a trailer left me gasping for breath, I park my truck across the road from my house and walking across and back had me gasping, I put it down to old age creeping up on me and being out of condition, then one Friday morning as I was washing a tank out just pulling the product hoses out had me sitting down and trying to catch my breath, a workmate did the work for me and told me I needed to see a doctor, that very afternoon when I arrived home my wife looked shocked “You are actually grey, you need to see the doctor” she said and called to make an appointment for the next morning. Off I trot to the nearest open doctors surgery next morning armed with a small jar containing some bits of kidney stone for testing, they took a blood sample and some xrays and sent me home, sitting watching Doc Martin that night the phone rings and it was a testing lab in Vermont asking for me, “Mr Hasler, we have examined your blood and the levels are critical, you need to get to the nearest ER asap”
“Not happening” I said, “I have a job to do and there is a full load of sugar for Ben & Jerry’s outside my house, I am not going, I will be ok” and put the phone down, they called again and my wife answered.
“Yes, yes, ok, I will take him” she told them.
I kicked up a storm, “I am not going anywhere” I shouted, Doc Martin is on 
“You are f*****g coming” she said “Or you will die in your sleep tonight”
She drove me under protest to Glens Falls hospital ER where all hell broke loose, it seems my blood count was only 4.9 when it should be over 15.0, I was told either I get a transfusion or I have less than 12 hours to live, I took the transfusion obviously, they kept me in for 2 days and I got 4 pints of blood pumped into me.
Next day I am tested by a real specialist in blood diseases, turned out after a bone marrow biopsy I had a very rare blood cancer called ‘Waldenstroms disease’, I was put on two types of chemotherapy which also nearly killed me, then put on an experimental drug which was controlling the disease and bought my IgM’s from a staggering 8,000 Igm’s per unit of blood to 900 per unit/ The IgM’s are needed in every body for life itself but a huge count like 8,000 makes the blood the thickness of engine oil and stops it reaching vital organs, in short I was very close to dropping dead. I have been on the treatment for over a year now and it is loosing it’s effects, my IgM’s are slowly going up again and they will have to try another type of chemo, at one point they inserted a catherter down my jugular into my heart band totally filtered my blood supply, I don’t want to go through that again believe me.
I am not looking for any sympathy or comments saying sorry Pat, I am getting by ok, I just wanted to stress how important it is to keep checking any health problems you think you may have, don’t keep ignoring things you may think don’t really matter, get everything checked, it may be too late.
best wishes to your family too.