I am a 69 year old female. I had a small stroke last April (a year ago) that caused my whole right side to become numb and useless, and when they did a CT Scan it was discovered that I had a humungous blood clot in my carotid artery. I had surgey to remove the clot, but the doctor upon reviewing my blood work discovered that my platelets had been on the rise for a few years. He sent me to a haematologist to be tested for an MPN and after having a biopsy and genetic testing done, it was discovered that I indeed had ET with MPL mutation. I have been on Hydroxyurea and aspirin since then. My dosage of hydroxyurea has been modified 3 times depending on results of blood tests. I currently take 500 mg Monday thru Friday and 1000 mg on Sat & Sun. I also had a couple of episodes with severe chest pains in March of this year that, after a multitude of tests, and a 10 hour spell of Atrial Fibrilation, was diagnosed as pericarditis, so I have been put on other drugs including Eloquis (a blood thinner) which has replaced the low dose aspirin. Other drugs include Flecainide and Metoporol which I understand lower blood pressure and heart rate.

Oh, and btw I luckily have no residual effects from the stoke. I am now back to walking longer distances ( I did almost 10 km today according to my firbit) and hope to be able to start back to my regular exercise routines with Barre Pilates and Tabata, but my doctor has to approve these activities first.

I don't know if this is too much information, but I just wanted to let you know that there can be life after small strokes and TIA's.