I’ve just found out that my Mums been living with Myelodysplastic syndrome. Turns out she was diagnosed 4+ years ago, but it was hushed up. Although we knew she had something, we thought it was something minor as she never spoke about it.

For those that don’t know, Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of cancers in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature and become healthy blood cells.

Since finding out what it is, everything falling into place as she displays these symptoms when ever I see her;
> weakness, tiredness and occasional breathlessness –because of the low number of red blood cells
> bruising and easy bleeding (such as nosebleeds) – because of the low number of platelets

The bit that’s got me is the life expectancy; ‘With current treatments, patients with lower-risk types of some MDS can live for 5 years or even longer. Patients with higher-risk MDS that becomes acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are likely to have a shorter life span. About 30 out of 100 MDS patients will develop AML.’

We had a chat last night about this- she gets treatment in the form on an injection and then gets a checkup every 4 months. Supposedly nothing has been found, but she could be playing it down again. Having been diagnosed 4+ years ago, and the life expectancy being 5+ years, I’m now worried.

It’s all come as a bit of a shock really. Just looking for people with experience about this or can share thoughts.