I had suspected something was not right for some time, shortness of breath, swelling of my joints, etc. I had actually stopped training due to these factors, some time before I was diagnosed. After getting over the shock, the next thing one does is find out what lays along the road for someone with such a condition.

left to right: Carl Lyons, Leon Cole and me shortly before I became ill

Ten years ago there was an amazing breakthrough in the understanding of how this disease actually progresses, and the DNA change that causes the disease. The actual enzyme that misfires was pinpointed, and a drug was produced called Glivec, that corrects the misfiring enzyme, thereby making my blood cell levels normal again.

The medicine does have side effects, but these are nothing in comparison to what would happen without the drug; a maximum life expectancy of 3 to 5 years. So I am currently building strength and hoping to slowly get back into training. Of course, I will have to do it gradually because of the side effects of the Glivec, but it would be so nice to get back training again.

Well let us look at the positives, if I did not have so much time on my hands, I would not have developed this website.