So I was recently diagnosed with polycythemia and the doctors words were literally "holy fuck! They didn’t tell you this 7 years ago???
I’m having a very hard time right now because people with this condition are expected to only survive 20 years after the diagnoses. Meaning I have less than 15 years to live. I’ll never see my child graduate high school. I’ll never see them get married. I’ll never get to meet my grandchildren… this sucks. I’m so terrified right now. What am I supposed to tell my wife? What am I supposed to tell my parents? I’m going to die before all of them? How did I upset the universe to deserve this? I’m so scared and I don’t know what to do. L
This is statistics, it doesn’t mean it has to be like that in your case.
Also I just read about it more, so it is like the opposite of anemia?
I see there are primary and secondary variants. The secondary for example can be caused by multiple things like sleep apnea so using CPAP can reduce it.
You should also consult another doctor and see what s/he says.
BTW when parent poster said that not many people choose how they got out, is actually true. For example you could be perfectly healthy 20 year old one day and next day have a fatal car accident. In your case is a bit bad, because how your doctor said it implied that the clock is ticking.
I’m not a doctor, but also have a chronic disease and with those predictions basically the way it works is gradually your health deteriorates quicker with the sickness and will be harder and harder to manage or the side effects of drugs you take also can cause problems etc etc.
Wikipedia says that untreated people die 1.5-3 years if untreated, and 10-20 years when treated. But it also says that most people are diagnosed in their 60s and that’s the patients the 10-20 years number was calculated from, which is close to natural life expectancy.
I would see another doctor to get their perspective. Chance is that you will live to old age as well.
BTW also if your sickness is caused by sleep apnea make sure you get CPAP. Sleep apnea can cause all kinds of issues (that might not even seem related) when not treated.