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Saturday, October 6, 2007

Why did I have to get an illness that is so hard to spell?

Credit must be given to the Greeks who really kick-started modern medicine. US doctors can speak fluent Greek by the time they leave Med school. Out of 4 years of medical school, 3.5 years is spent learning Greek. The remaining semester is spent learning medical concepts and taking various electives like surfing and golf.

Myelodysplastic Syndrome:
Myelo = Marrow
Dysplastic = Abnormal
Syndrome = With a course

It's all Greek. In English the disease would be called it "f***ed up marrow".
MDS = 'f***ed up marrow'.

Most people with Myelodysplastic Syndrome will just say they have a bone marrow disease or 'MDS'. If you prefer, you can call it by it's old name of Pre-Leukemia. But remember, MDS leads to Leukemia less than a third of the time. Knock on wood.
Stem Cell transplants are generally not advised for people over 60 years old. The age used to be 50. Just recently, better techniques have improved the outcomes for quinquagenarians. I am going to test these new techniques.

1 comments:

Pat H. said...

Hey Jim....

Your blog is awesome and thanks
for all the educational info. It
really helps in understanding.

Your Sis-in-law,
Pat