[squirrellypoo]

Hi Gretchen.

Wow, I'm flabbergasted to find someone else with such a long ATG remission! I had mine in 1984 and at the time, the doctors told my parents I was cured and that was that... I lived 25 years of a perfectly normal life, and AA was just "some disease I had as a kid". I didn't even get CBCs, and I was told not to even mention it when I donated blood.

So when I suddenly and very abruptly got sick in late 2008 I was referred to Prof Marsh at Kings (one of the world's leading AA experts and researchers). she told me that as far as she knew, I was the world record holder for ATG remission at 25 years and that it normally only works for 5, 10, or 15 years. So to find you here at almost the same length of time is like finding a needle in a haystack!! But at the same time, I don't want to worry you, but you're living on borrowed time. I would've lived my life differently if I'd known that my AA would come back at some point and I certainly would've been more careful around household chemicals. Prof Marsh said they can never truly pinpoint what has triggered an AA relapse, but that some people are just more suceptible to the known triggers than others. Lucky us...

Anyway, I don't want to be a downer - I just wish someone had told me years ago what I'm telling you now: Be extremely careful, and never take a single day of your life for granted.