{"id":99522,"date":"2022-09-14T12:22:47","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T12:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=99522"},"modified":"2022-09-14T12:23:20","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T12:23:20","slug":"sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharon\u2019s 30 years living with MPN"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sharon\u2019s 30 years living with MPN<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Sharon MacIntyre was young when she diagnosed with\u00a0MPN<\/a>\u00a0at the age of 18 but she believes her first symptoms started many years earlier, when she was at primary school.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Source :\u00a0leukaemia<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a long road and it\u2019s been very bumpy,\u201d said Sharon, now 48, who lives on Brisbane\u2019s northside and is the mother of three healthy children.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had various specialists and various trials and tried platelet apheresis and all sorts of things.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

\"Sharon
Sharon MacIntyre with her first child, Bethany in 2001: \u201cshe was totally healthy\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Early records show her platelet counts were elevated, at around 700 as a 10- to 12-year-old, although nothing like the 1900 that they were at the time of her diagnosis. Her red blood cell count was also high and, as a pre-teen, she had \u201cheaps of headaches and nosebleeds\u201d and was \u201cconstantly at the hospital for being underweight\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad\u2019s answer back then was to give me children\u2019s chewable disprin which was probably a good thing as it was helping to stop clots and probably saved me from having a stroke,\u201d said Sharon.<\/span><\/p>\n

In her last years of high school, along with a lot of headaches and feeling dizzy, Sharon had \u201cstrange symptoms\u201d which she described as \u201cfunny-down-one-side symptoms\u201d, and most times she couldn\u2019t see, or walk, or talk. It was thought she had very severe migraines. She saw GPs and neurologists, but no one could help.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharon repeated year 12 because she\u2019d had a lot of sick days, \u201cand funnily enough\u201d, she had lots of sick days during her second year 12 as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Diagnosed with polycythaemia rubra vera and essential thrombocythaemia in 1991<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cFinally, someone suggested doing a bone marrow biopsy,\u201d said Sharon, after two successive blood tests showed high platelets. She was then diagnosed with\u00a0polycythaemia rubra vera (PV)<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0essential thrombocythaemia (ET)<\/a>\u00a0during her break after finishing school and before starting college, in December 1991.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a bit of a shock. I was really young and there was no internet back then, so you couldn\u2019t do Dr Google,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd being diagnosed with something that usually affects people over 60 was quite scary for the medical people involved as they didn\u2019t know the long-term effects of the current treatments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI went along to the haematologist and I recall him saying he\u2019d never seen anyone so young diagnosed with ET and PV.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She was put on baby aspirin and hydroxyurea (Hydrea\u00ae).<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"Sharon
Sharon and Stewart were married on the beach in January 2014<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI went about life as a young person, knowing my limits about the things I could and couldn\u2019t do but often I\u2019d cancel on things if I knew my body couldn\u2019t last the duration or I was having major headaches or dizziness at the time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After graduating with a Certificate of Business Management, Sharon went on to QUT and did a Bachelor of Business majoring in international business.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll that time, I was driving my dodgey old car over to the PA Hospital and seeing my haematologist there once a month.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A couple of years later, in 1993-94, Sharon stopped taking hydroxyurea and went on a clinical trial which involved daily injections of alpha interferon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t honestly remember how that trial went. I think I stopped it because of the side effects, which included feeling fluey.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Being pregnant and on hydroxyurea was challenging<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cIn September 2000, I got married and then fell pregnant,\u201d said Sharon. <\/span>At the time, she\u2019d been on hydroxyurea for \u201cseven or eight weeks\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a really emotional and challenging journey. My first haematologist refused to treat me unless I terminated the pregnancy,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was really upset and got a couple of second opinions.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She chose a haematologist with experience treating an MPN patient in the UK who had been pregnant and, as soon as Sharon decided to go ahead with her pregnancy, she stopped her hydroxyurea treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"Sharon
Sharon at Light the Night in 2014 with friends and baby Amelia<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During her pregnancy, Sharon went to the clinic for high-risk pregnancies at the Royal Brisbane Hospital and her obstetrician would page down her haematologist who attended each of her antenatal appointments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d make sure everything was okay with my blood,\u201d said Sharon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTreating a person with MPN who was pregnant was fairly new for both of them. They were monitoring me so closely.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t know what the Hydrea could have done or the risks of the MPN itself, like with clots or haemorrhaging.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe pregnancy was a bit stressful, I had blood tests and ultrasounds every fortnight, and everyone was being a bit cautious.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There was great relief when Sharon\u2019s daughter, Bethany, now aged 19, was born and \u201cturned out to be perfectly normal\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I should mention that while I was pregnant all my platelets and other blood counts normalised, and that happened in all three of my pregnancies,\u201d said Sharon, whose other two children are Benjamin, 18, and Amelia, who is seven.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharon\u2019s MPN symptoms were monitored on watch and wait<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

After Bethany\u2019s birth, Sharon went on \u2018watch and wait\u2019 and her symptom burden was monitored.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been on aspirin. That\u2019s the one constant, since 1991, except if I\u2019m having an operation or for two weeks before the delivery of the children.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOther treatments have been added in as my symptom burden got worse and worse, so when my platelet count got higher and higher and I experienced more headaches or dizziness.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI did try anagrelide, but it caused a lot of side effects, so I wasn\u2019t on it for long,\u201d Sharon explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"Sharon\u2019s
Sharon\u2019s daughter, Amelia at this year\u2019s Light the Night<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAfter the anagrelide, I fell pregnant with my second child and because the first pregnancy went reasonably well, my blood tests and ultrasounds were spaced out to every four weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat one went quite well and again my platelets dropped to the high normal range while I was pregnant, and after Benjamin was born they went back up, almost instantaneously \u2013 within a week or two. It was quite bizarre.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd each time this happened I remember thinking, \u2018I wonder if there\u2019s something in this as a cure. Why is pregnancy normalising things?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBenjamin was born fine, and I guess there wasn\u2019t the complication of me being on hydroxyurea or anything to affect the foetus, or developmental stuff like that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After Sharon\u2019s second haematologist moved to another hospital, she saw her third haematologist \u201cfor a long time\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd around the time my son was at kindy, 2006, I tried platelet apheresis but that didn\u2019t work for me, so I only tried it once. Within a couple of days my body had made all those platelets again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2007, Sharon separated from her first husband who didn\u2019t seem to understand her needs as an MPN patient.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was just not helpful. With my MPN, and tiredness, and the two kids, and working, and trying to do everything, it got to the point where he wouldn\u2019t even take out the bins. Everything was just all on me. It didn\u2019t work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to go through lawyers and the Family Court. It was pretty hard emotionally, physically, and financially,\u201d said Sharon, and it was the following year that myelofibrosis showed up in her bone marrow.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2012, Sharon met up again with a former colleague, Stewart, who she had sat next to at work back in 2000.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was divorced, and I was divorced, and we seemed to get along, so that was a good thing,\u201d said Sharon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"Sharon
In 2016, Sharon went to Canberra for the Rare Cancers Conference<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During Sharon\u2019s pregnancy with her third child, in 2014, again, she didn\u2019t have as many blood tests or ultrasounds as she\u2019d had while expecting Bethany and Benjamin, but she was still seen at the high-risk clinic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe other difference is, I was older,\u201d said Sharon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was 40 when I fell pregnant with Amelia, so there were a few complications, in that regard rather than the MPN, and a high chance of a foetal abnormality.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to pay $900 for a genomic blood test that was sent to America and I think my MPN had an impact on the results because it came back saying the baby had Down syndrome and Patau syndrome, because trisomy 21 and trisomy 13 showed up in that test result.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen I had an amniocentesis which showed my baby was perfectly normal and was a girl. The hospital said I must have one of those conditions, and I said, \u2018well clearly, I don\u2019t have Down syndrome and there\u2019s no way I have Patau syndrome either, so I think that it\u2019s my MPN that\u2019s throwing out the test.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe could have saved money and all this angst. I remember I was visibly starting to show, and we hadn\u2019t told anyone about the pregnancy at that stage because we were really worried and didn\u2019t think we would go ahead [with the pregnancy] if there were a lot of issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the results from the amniocentesis came back, I called my husband and he was just shocked, saying \u2018are you sure, are you sure it\u2019s normal?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharon\u2019s transformation to myelofibrosis<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n

\"Sharon
Sharon travelled to the MPN Horizons conference in Germany in 2017 where she met UK MPN specialist, Dr Claire Harrison, and Jon Matthias<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sharon continued to go \u201con and off hydroxyurea\u201d. It was the treatment she tolerated the most and which gave her the best results in dropping her platelet count.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOver time, my PV blended into the background and the focus was more on the ET because my platelets were up around 1900.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharon\u2019s level of fatigue during her third pregnancy was \u201cinsane, like nothing I\u2019d experienced before\u201d, and after having Amelia, she noticed her symptom burden was much heavier.<\/span><\/p>\n

That was in 2014-2015 and Sharon didn\u2019t know it at the time, but these symptoms were due to her MPN transforming to\u00a0myelofibrosis (MF)<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEverything just hurt. Trying to turn on the taps hurt, opening the baby food jars hurt, and I said to my husband, \u2018I think something\u2019s changed\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had another bone marrow biopsy \u2013 my sixth or seventh,\u201d said Sharon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBy this stage, this procedure was really starting to hurt and I wasn\u2019t recovering from them well, so I haven\u2019t had another bone marrow biopsy since 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely showed fibrous tissue and I got another opinion from another haematologist who I still currently see.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe looked back through my records and told me I had post-ET myelofibrosis; it was present in my last two bone marrow biopsies, unbeknown to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s lucky and unlucky in a way, because if I\u2019d known in 2008 that I had myelofibrosis, I probably wouldn\u2019t have agreed to having another child with Stewart.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not on any treatment and managing<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n

\"Sharon
And in 2017, Sharon, left, also attended an MPN conference in Melbourne<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since then, Sharon has continued to be on watch and wait. She hasn\u2019t been on any treatment and regularly sees her fourth haematologist.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe suggested at one stage, when my symptoms and platelets were really high, doing hydroxyurea again, but I said \u2018no\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just didn\u2019t want to feel dreadful, and I didn\u2019t want to have mouth ulcers and stomach ulcers,\u201d said Sharon about the side effects she\u2019s had in the past on this medication.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we\u2019ve talked about ruxolitinib [Jakavi\u00ae] and any other trial drugs, and I\u2019m not quite eligible yet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharon\u2019s haematologist also talked to her about HLA tissue type matching, \u201cin case I need an allogeneic stem cell transplant\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not at that stage yet and I don\u2019t have a donor match as yet unfortunately,\u201d she said. Her only sibling is unsuitable as a related donor and no unrelated matches have been picked up on the Australian and international bone marrow registries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharon has negotiated with her haematologist for her appointments to be every eight weeks, which she said, \u201cis brilliant, with three kids and working and everything\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

What she struggles most with is \u201cthe tiredness and the lethargy and the headaches and the bone pain\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd my concentration is not like a normal person\u2019s, due to the lack of sleep and pain,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sharon
Sharon\u2019s parents immigrated from Sri Lanka so in 2019, she took her children to Sri Lanka to show them their heritage<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThank goodness, my husband is a good helpful husband. He does a lot, so I\u2019ll hang on to him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m constantly sick. That\u2019s the worst thing about having MPN \u2013 if there\u2019s anything out there, especially during winter, I always get it. So my husband might come home with a cough and I end up in emergency with whooping cough.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve noticed the main difference between having an MPN and someone who\u2019s healthy is\u2026 your system just isn\u2019t working properly and can\u2019t handle infection and can\u2019t handle things that are a bit different to the ordinary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For the last 20 years Sharon has worked part-time, doing project work for the Queensland Government. When she spoke to\u00a0MPN News<\/em>, she had been on unpaid leave since May, recovering from a broken shoulder \u201cand to get on top of my health and help my son who\u2019s been quite unwell\u201d. She plans to return to her job in late November.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just getting ready and getting to work is an ordeal for Sharon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would get to work exhausted from getting to work.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cMy GP suggested I apply for a disability parking permit and that came through thank goodness. Being able to park near the train station cuts out so much pain from the extra time and extra walking getting to work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a bit of a journey, the last three years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharon\u2019s platelet counts have stablised<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 2015, \u201cwhen everything was just declining\u201d, Sharon\u2019s best friend flew out from the UK and they went to an ayurvedic health retreat together for a week.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat was really insightful,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt that retreat, there was no caffeine, no alcohol, no sugar, no microwaving anything. Everything was organic and grown on their farm at Kin Kin. I was having green smoothies every day and non-processed, natural food, and oh my gosh, it was delicious.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"Sharon
This selfie was taken during one of Sharon\u2019s hospital visits<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was probably good for anyone\u2019s system, but it seemed to work on my blood counts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we came back, my haematologist was like, \u2018what have you been doing?\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy blood had stabilised \u2013 it has stopped worsening and my platelets have been hovering around the 600-700 range since, so I\u2019m just watching and waiting.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve generally tried to stick to that retreat\u2019s philosophy although it\u2019s hard with three children because it meant nothing white \u2013 no white bread or white vegetables. Everything has to be dark, leafy stuff or dark vegetables.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharon compromises with a \u201cbit of a blend \u2013 brown rice, brown bread, sweet potato\u201d for her and white potatoes for the children.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since going to the ayurvedic retreat, Sharon has also been to a cancer cure retreat, \u201cbut that wasn\u2019t for me\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was raw foods only and it seemed to clog me up and give me chronic impacted bowels.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

MF, COVID and the future<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Sharon talks of her future as being \u201cgood and not so good\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGood that my kids are getting older so they\u2019re more independent and that\u2019s less of a physical burden on me,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot so good in a way. I realise myelofibrosis is a bit of a debilitating condition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially when COVID hit, it really scared me. I went straight out and did my will and power of attorney and just thought, \u201coh my god, if the normal flu brings me down and to hospital, what\u2019s COVID going to do? And my specialist was quite firm that I get the vaccine straightaway.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI got AstraZeneca even though I\u2019m under 50, because there wasn\u2019t any age limit when it first came out, and I ended up in hospital for four days. Every symptom you can think of, I had.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was very reluctant to get the second jab but I had it and I had nothing\u2026 not one symptom after the second injection.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"Sharon
Sharon and the family out for dinner to celebrate her son Benjamin\u2019s 18th birthday in July 2021<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leukaemia Foundation support<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

It was when Sharon\u2019s third child was a baby that she first went to the Leukaemia Foundation\u2019s MPN coffee and chat\u00a0support group<\/a>\u00a0meetings in Brisbane, but then \u201cit just got all too hard, with three kids\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t go again until a couple of years later and then I went pretty much every time they held the group, until COVID.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a vital, valuable service. For so long, especially when I was 18, I never met anyone who had the same thing as me, apart from at the hospital waiting room, especially those who was around the same age as me.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd as much as your partner is supportive, they don\u2019t get what you\u2019re going through. And sometimes everything is a mess and you put on a smile, but nobody sees all the pain and exhaustion and fatigue.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou might be able to slap on a bit of makeup, but it\u2019s taken you a few hours to feel good enough to do that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharon has taken part in the Leukaemia Foundation\u2019s annual\u00a0Light the Night<\/a>\u00a0event a few times and she was among the top 10 fundraisers in Queensland in 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI made Light the Night cookies and cupcakes and sold them at my work and my husband took a batch in to his work to sell. We raised about $1500.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This year, Sharon, along with friends and their children took part in this year\u2019s Light the Night, with a walk around her local park and a barbecue afterwards and her fundraising total was $900.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Being informed about MPN<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cWhen I was diagnosed at 18, I thought, \u2018okay, this sounds weird\u2019, but I just went on with my life,\u201d Sharon explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI probably should have researched back then, but I just did my studies and went to uni, then got a job.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sharon
Sharon curled up with her dog, Chewie<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThen, when my symptoms got worse and information became available on the internet, I\u2019d look things up.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2017, Sharon went to an MPN conference in Germany \u201cthat was brilliant\u201d and she\u2019s also been to MPN events in Sydney and Melbourne, and has communicated by email with\u00a0Professor Ruben Mesa<\/a>\u00a0and has spoken with Professor Dr Claire Harrison \u2013 both leading world authorities on MPN.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI learned so much and I had so many questions from my own research. There\u2019s so much going on \u2013 there\u2019s the CRISPR technology for gene editing, immunotherapy, and hopefully some smart person will discover something that cures MPN.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGetting to those information conferences is hard \u2013 especially if you\u2019re working \u2013 and expensive, but there are so many benefits for MPN patients from participating,\u201d said Sharon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou realise you are not the only person going through this and you get to meet others with similar conditions. You hear their stories and about the treatments they have tried, which you may not know about and which you can then discuss with your haematologist.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there are so many MPN experts there that you can chat to, one-on-one. And I usually take my latest blood test and bone marrow biopsy results with me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Advice to others<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Based on her experience at the beginning of her MPN journey, Sharon says, \u201cif you\u2019re still getting symptoms, keep pushing for an answer\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd get support early and reach out for help,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I felt like I was having a bit of a breakdown, the biggest help was talking to my GP and then her saying, \u2018look, why don\u2019t we try and apply for this disability parking permit?\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTalk to people who are going through something similar and diagnosed with something similar or the same, it\u2019s really valuable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, try to live a normal life but know your limits.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sharon\u2019s 30 years living with MPN Sharon MacIntyre was young when she diagnosed with\u00a0MPN\u00a0at the age of 18 but she believes her first symptoms started many years earlier, when she was at primary school. Source :\u00a0leukaemia \u201cIt\u2019s been a long road and it\u2019s been very bumpy,\u201d said Sharon, now 48, who lives on Brisbane\u2019s northside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":99525,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[33696,47695,47694,47696,47697],"class_list":{"0":"post-99522","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-aside","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-articles","8":"tag-brisbane","9":"tag-diagnosed","10":"tag-mpn","11":"tag-polycythaemia","12":"tag-sharon-macintyre","13":"post_format-post-format-aside"},"yoast_head":"\nSharon\u2019s 30 years living with MPN - eLanka<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sharon MacIntyre was young when she diagnosed with MPN at the age of 18 but she believes her first symptoms started many\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sharon\u2019s 30 years living with MPN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sharon MacIntyre was young when she diagnosed with MPN at the age of 18 but she believes her first symptoms started many\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"eLanka\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-14T12:22:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-14T12:23:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sharon-MacIntyre_baby-Bethany-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"230\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"eLanka admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"eLanka admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"18 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"eLanka admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd\"},\"headline\":\"Sharon\u2019s 30 years living with MPN\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-14T12:22:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-14T12:23:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/\"},\"wordCount\":3476,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sharon-MacIntyre_baby-Bethany-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Brisbane\",\"Diagnosed\",\"MPN\",\"polycythaemia\",\"Sharon MacIntyre\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/\",\"name\":\"Sharon\u2019s 30 years living with MPN - eLanka\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sharon-MacIntyre_baby-Bethany-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-14T12:22:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-14T12:23:20+00:00\",\"description\":\"Sharon MacIntyre was young when she diagnosed with MPN at the age of 18 but she believes her first symptoms started many\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sharon-MacIntyre_baby-Bethany-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sharon-MacIntyre_baby-Bethany-1.jpg\",\"width\":350,\"height\":230,\"caption\":\"Sharon MacIntyre\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/category\/articles\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Sharon\u2019s 30 years living with MPN\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/\",\"name\":\"eLanka\",\"description\":\"eLanka - Sri lanka events in Australia\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization\",\"name\":\"eLanka\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg\",\"width\":192,\"height\":82,\"caption\":\"eLanka\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/elanka\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SriLankanDownUnder\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd\",\"name\":\"eLanka admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"eLanka admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/author\/elanka\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sharon\u2019s 30 years living with MPN - eLanka","description":"Sharon MacIntyre was young when she diagnosed with MPN at the age of 18 but she believes her first symptoms started many","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sharon\u2019s 30 years living with MPN","og_description":"Sharon MacIntyre was young when she diagnosed with MPN at the age of 18 but she believes her first symptoms started many","og_url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/","og_site_name":"eLanka","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/","article_published_time":"2022-09-14T12:22:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-09-14T12:23:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":350,"height":230,"url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sharon-MacIntyre_baby-Bethany-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"eLanka admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"eLanka admin","Est. reading time":"18 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/"},"author":{"name":"eLanka admin","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd"},"headline":"Sharon\u2019s 30 years living with MPN","datePublished":"2022-09-14T12:22:47+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-14T12:23:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/"},"wordCount":3476,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sharon-MacIntyre_baby-Bethany-1.jpg","keywords":["Brisbane","Diagnosed","MPN","polycythaemia","Sharon MacIntyre"],"articleSection":["Articles"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/","name":"Sharon\u2019s 30 years living with MPN - eLanka","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sharon-MacIntyre_baby-Bethany-1.jpg","datePublished":"2022-09-14T12:22:47+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-14T12:23:20+00:00","description":"Sharon MacIntyre was young when she diagnosed with MPN at the age of 18 but she believes her first symptoms started many","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sharon-MacIntyre_baby-Bethany-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Sharon-MacIntyre_baby-Bethany-1.jpg","width":350,"height":230,"caption":"Sharon MacIntyre"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/sharons-30-years-living-with-mpn\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/category\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Sharon\u2019s 30 years living with MPN"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/","name":"eLanka","description":"eLanka - Sri lanka events in Australia","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization","name":"eLanka","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg","width":192,"height":82,"caption":"eLanka"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/elanka\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SriLankanDownUnder"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd","name":"eLanka admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"eLanka admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew"],"url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/author\/elanka\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99522"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99534,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99522\/revisions\/99534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}