I’m so sorry to hear how things turned out after your former husband learned of your illness. I am blessed that my husband and I remain together, although there were definite adjustments due to my illness throughout the years. I suppose that each situation is unique to the individuals, but perhaps you could break the ice on the subject with a dating partner by describing the side-effects of your MF as well as the type of care that you are in need of. If this goes well, perhaps you could give him something more in-depth to read. I wish you much joy, whether you eventually re-marry or remain single!

I can only respond to this question from my own experience, plus the shared experiences of fellow patients: There is variance of opinion amongst hematologists regarding the frequency of BMBs. One of our most respected experts, Dr. Silver of NYC, says basically that if you don’t look you won’t see. He’s a true believer that one will see indications in the marrow that do not appear in the peripheral blood. I subscribed to this belief myself, after evaluating his results with those of other doctors who were looking only at the blood. However, since I have been under the care of Dr. Mesa we have skipped a year. He will likely order a BMB for me only if there are changes in either my symptoms or my CBC results. I’m okay with this, but would be reluctant to go indefinitely. Anyway, there is variance amongst our experts, and as your own best advocate you should research WHY they have these differences and then decide what you are most comfortable with. Once you know what you want done, why don’t you bring it up with your hematologist?