My brush with hairy cell leukaemia proved brief; scary at first; painful at times; but with excellent medical care (from the William Harvey Hospital team in Kent) and what I can only call a wonder drug, Pentostatin, all traces of my HCL were gone within four months of the initial diagnosis.
 
A year and more on now , and my blood counts are fine. I did develop secondary polycythemia for a few months but that too has vanished. As have those damn needles!

Maybe I'm not a typical case, and maybe it will return. But for the moment, all's well - and as my splendid consultant told me: "If I was going to have leukaemia, I'd pick Hairy Cell any time.

Luke Albarin
Hythe
Kent
United Kingdom