JAK2 Mutant

Post-assessment, I've started raising awareness about the need for Canadians aged 17 to 35 years of age to sign up for the Stem Cell Donor Registry located on the Canadian Blood Services website. Selfishly, my goal is to have a perfect donor match available when it's time for me to be the recipient. Of course, others will benefit from increasing the number of donors on the registry, but I'd be lying if I were to say that my motivation was anything but self interested. The first step in raising awareness has been to appear on CBC Radio's supper hour radio show Mainstreet to talk with host Matt Rainnie and Brandon Peacock,  Community Development Manager (Ottawa) /  Donor Relations & Collections ONN  about the registry. You can listen to the interview here . If you or someone you know is interested in signing up for the Stem Cell Donor Registry, you can do so here . It's my understanding that all that's required to register is a simple swab of your mouth. 

My assessment in Halifax for a stem cell transplant (SCT) took place this week. I meet with Dr. Christina Fraga and her team for an in depth discussion of the process, and was given the choice whether to go ahead or decline. Briefly, here's the information I was given: I am not quite "sick enough" to receive an SCT at this point. This is a balancing act because it was suggested that I should be blood transplant dependent first, but if I had a heart attack, stroke (for which having an MPN puts its carriers at risk) or other significant health event in the meantime, I'd be ineligible for a future SCT.   Secondly, as only one potential donor match was found, and it was not a "perfect match", the chances of success were hindered significantly. Also, during this appointment, the gravity of undergoing an SCT was driven home to me. HARD. As MF is especially difficult to treat via this method, there are a number of points at which an SCT can fail. This can leave the