Thank you dear @Erica and @JanetF, I’m rested and stretched and full-up from hiking and swimming and stuffing my face amongst the redwoods! Now back to reality 
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Thought I’d link to this great resource that @Ali_BloodCancerUK kindly shared on another thread showing the prevalence of various blood disorders like Polycythaemia vera (PV): HMRN - Factsheets
“Polycythaemia vera accounts for 3% of diagnosed haematological malignancies. With an annual incidence of 1.8 per 100,000 people, an estimated 1,140 people are newly diagnosed with polycythaemia vera each year in the UK.”
There’s also data for the other Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) and blood disorders, should they be of interest 
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Wondering how your Spanish siesta has been, dear @JanetF? I hope all your plans came together in time for you to leave some worries behind and enjoy your holiday fully!
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Hi, Duncan! 
I’m so sorry it has taken me this long to reply. I haven’t been very well the last 10 days or so (a respiratory bug 
I just haven’t been able to shift) and it’s been ages since I’ve been on the forum - since before I came to Spain for the wedding, I think!
Thank you so much for thinking of me! The wedding was absolutely fabulous - probably the best I have ever been to and well worth waiting 32 years for the happy couple to decide to tie the knot! In the end, it turned out that my worries about having to read the German version of the ceremony out were completely unfounded - it was such a suprise for the German contingent, who weren’t expecting to understand anything of the ceremony, which was obviously in Spanish, that they were super-happy and just very surprised that it was someone British doing it! 
Far more challenging was the ABBA Dancing Queen group dance 
that a group of us had prepared! Between dancing and formal, ceremonial Geman, give me the latter any day!
So it was a wonderful day and went on at the restaurant down at the beach well into the night, and the partying lasted another week afterwards until the guests started going back to Germany. My friends left on honeymoon to Vietnam last weekend, so it’s finally a bit quieter, but of course I have filled that gap by being ill - not what I had planned!
Of course, there was no way that I was going to go back to Kenya so soon, so I have changed my return flights to the very beginning of January, but with the post-Brexit regulations that means that I have to have some time outside the EU between now and then so that I don’t break the 90-day rule, so I have booked to go to the UK for a couple of weeks from late November till mid-December and will be able to see my family and friends, which is unexpected, but lovely!
I’m still not feeling great, but in about 10 minutes I am leaving for Valencia. If it weren’t already booked and the hotel paid for, I wouldn’t go today, but I’ll just take it easy when I get there, easy tomorrow and hopefully I’ll be OK for Saturday, when it is… the fifth national conference of Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) Spain! 
Yes, I have found Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) Espana and joined it and they have their national conference in Valencia (where the city centre wasn’t affected by the recent flooding, thankfully) on Saturday and Sunday. They seem to be very well organised and I’m looking forward to it and to extending my knowledge of everything Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) in Spanish!
I’m also hoping to find some contacts for an Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) specialist here - or at the very least, a good haematologist - as I saw a haematologist here a few weeks ago when it was time for my next venesection and I wasn’t over-impressed, shall we say?
So we shall see! But for now I need to be off. Everything is packed and ready and Google Maps says that the motorway between the two cities is clear (the rail lines aren’t back up yet and I have a hire car at the moment), so hopefully the journey will be uneventful.
Once I am back I will get back into my old pattern of reading the forum daily. In the meantime, I hope you are keeping well and thanks again for thinking of me!
All the best,
Janet
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Wow, @JanetF I cannot believe what has happened to you since we heard from you last.
That was some wedding celebration, I am very impressed with your ABBA routine and also speaking in German as well…
I cannot believe that you have found the Spanish Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) seminar in Valencia.
Sorry to hear that you have not been well, take lots of special care of yourself.
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Aww @JanetF it’s so great to hear how you’ve been, and what an amazing and busy time it sounds like! Love hearing about your friends and their wedding and how fun it all sounds. Perhaps it’s to be expected that you came down with something after all that energetic social time! Thank you for sharing.
I’m really glad the floods missed you, I did wonder if you’d be nearby. Looks horrendous from what I’ve seen, but sadly a more common experience as global heating continues apace—much like the wildfire and flash flood risks where I am 
Also really pleased to know you’ve found relevant healthcare there. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you find a more impressive haematologist, I know only too well how important this can be! Enjoy your conference this weekend, sounds like perfect timing for you being in the region. I’ll look forward to any nuggets of wisdom you might like to share! Very impressed with your polyglot skills
Glad to hear how you’re doing @JanetF, do take care and continue to enjoy settling in… and all that paella! Is it the case that Thursdays are paella day where you are?! Oh my and that manchego 
I have such food envy!!! Get well soon.
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Did the bone marrow thing hurt as got mine on Monday I’m so overwhelmed by all of this and feeling a bit down
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Hi @djleighp I have never had one, it was not used widely 20 yrs ago when I was diagnosed. I have read many experiences on our forum though from virtually painless to very painful.
The handy hint I have read on our forum is are to tell your medical team how anxious you are and ask for pain relief relief.
I reckon for me the more anxious I am, the more I tense up, and the more painful any procedure is.
The unknown and waiting is anxious making, overwhelming and make you feel down, your medical team are doing them every day.
Be very kind to yourself and please do let us know how you get on, fingers and toes crossed for you.
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Hello @djleighp, welcome to the forum. I see from your other posts that you’ve been diagnosed with the JAK2 gene mutation and have concerns about what it might mean. Bet you never thought you’d need to find a forum like this, right?!
Seriously though, I’m sorry to read of the testing you’re going through. I don’t remember being tested for JAK2 as it was a simple blood test, but I definitely remember the bone marrow biopsy and aspiration!
All I can say from my experience is don’t expect the BMB to be painful but do expect it to feel uncomfortable. I was anaesthetised in my lower back and didn’t feel any pain at all, but the sensation of the doctor scraping at my pelvic bone was very strange. It reminded me of having a tooth pulled under anaesthetic, if you know that sensation. Then it just felt a bit bruised for about a week after.
I’d say ask to be anaesthetised as it’ll take much of any potential discomfort away. Anxiety will probably feel worse than the procedure itself so, like @Erica suggests, do tell your doctors about any worries. Try to breathe deeply and slowly and stay still and that’ll help the doctor do the procedure more accurately and faster.
Thinking of you @djleighp, I hope the BMB goes smoothly tomorrow! Do let us know.
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