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January 8th, 2006, my father, Errol M Reed, age 78, lost his battle with a disease called, Myelodysplastic Disease Syndrome, MDS, which became Leukemia.
This is a disease that can be easily mis-diagnosed, has the symptoms of anemia, and has many possible stages. My dad was diagnosed in December of 2004 and was told in May that he had 2 to 6 months to live.
One of the things that kept him going, were frequent blood transfusions. His body did not produce red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, and the ones that were produced were not normal cells.
He would go into the hospital, almost needing to be carried, barely able to sit up. After the transfusion of one to two units of blood, he was able to walk out of the hospital. In the end, he was basically bleeding because most of his blood consisted of Leukemic cells/blasts.
If you have been diagnosed with anemia, please insist that your doctor do a complete blood count, and check to make sure you do not have MDS. IF diagnosed, please look for a doctor that understands and has treated this disease.
For more information, please check out the MDS Foundation web site at: www.MDS-foundation.org
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