Hi @mags17 I’m sorry if there was some confusion but my reply was written to @lostmonk regarding their recent diagnosis of PV. They had also mentioned the possibility of having sleep apnea as a correlation.

As we do in Connect to bring other members together who have common experiences, I tagged you, along with others, because of previous discussions where you mentioned that you had PV, the JAK2 mutation. We also talked about sleep apnea being a possible cause of increased red blood count and hematocrit. So I provided those informational links to @lostmonk so that they would have some idea of what is taking place when they go to see the hematologist tomorrow by reading conversations with other members. I never meant to imply anything about your health nor did I misunderstand your conversations.

I’m really saddened if I brought you any undue stress regarding your health. My use of the word Chronic wasn’t meant in any way to be negative or to even describe your personal situation. It simply is a description of a condition that is ongoing. It doesn’t mean a condition is fatal. It just means ongoing. There are millions of people with chronic conditions like dandruff or ingrown toenails, autoimmune disease…the list goes on. So I feel horrible if you are now feeling like an invalid for something I said!

My gosh, I’m the last person to ever want anyone to not feel positive about life and going forward. I have had a very serious and aggressive blood cancer that I’ve overcome, so I know what it’s like to live with a possible specter over my shoulder.

To be honest, it never bothers me!!! I refuse to live in the world of ‘what ifs’ because I did that for too many years in my earlier life. Always worried about ‘what if the worst happened’, without even knowing what the worst is! It was a nebulous, vile thing I cooked up in my imagination with self talk. Having faced ‘the worst’…my fate, head-on and survived I now own the feeling of invincibility and possess a super power of always being positive. So I’m gutted to feel that I’ve somehow turned your life upside down with a reply I made for someone else.

Your surgeon friend is right, people with PV can live long and healthy lives with treatment. It’s certainly not something anyone chooses to happen, but life hands us things we don’t expect sometimes. We have to meet it head on from that point and always look forward. So please, focus on what your life was like this morning before you read my reply. Grab your self confidence from where you tossed it aside today and get back out in public, go to church, visit art galleries and have lunch with friends and family! Every day is a gift and it’s simply a sin to waste one moment of it worrying! ☺️