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TEXT ON SCREEN:
Monica’s Story
Living with Myelofibrosis

Monica
Myelofibrosis (MF) survivor

MONICA:
I’m Monica, I’m a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and most importantly, a cancer survivor.

Before I was diagnosed, my life was pretty normal. Busy, dating Timmy and working. I had a pretty full life. I was pretty independent.

The major things that made us think something wrong is I would get really severe sharp pains in my left side and I would double over. It would stop me in my tracks and I couldn’t do anything until the pain subsided.

TEXT ON SCREEN:
Having MF can cause your spleen to become enlarged, which is known as splenomegaly. Splenomegaly can cause symptoms like abdominal discomfort, feeling full too quickly, pain under the left ribs, or pain in the upper left shoulder.

MONICA:
The pain was from my spleen. It had become enlarged. I started to become anemic and I’d be really tired. I couldn’t do things like I normally would.

TEXT ON SCREEN:
Having a low red blood cell count is called anemia. Anemia can cause symptoms like tiredness/fatigue, shortness of breath, weakness, chest pain or dizziness.

MONICA:
I would tell Timmy after we would do things, I’d say “I hit my wall, I have to rest.” Because I just had no energy whatsoever. It just takes it right out of you. My family and our friends would always want to do things and I just- I’d have to tell them no, because I knew I could do that or have the energy to stay that long. And that’s hard because they think you don’t want to come. But it’s just when you hit that wall you’re done.

When we first started investigating it with the doctors they didn’t know what it was. They did test after test. I was 26 years old. It took a good year for them to diagnose myelofibrosis.

TEXT ON SCREEN:
Healthcare providers use the following test and procedures to diagnose MF: physical exam, blood tests, imaging tests, bone marrow biopsy and aspiration, biomarker testing.

MONICA:
After I received my diagnosis, I saw the doctor twice a year. They took my blood.

TEXT ON SCREEN:
This is Monica’s experience and others may be different.

MONICA:
They would draw it and check the counts to make sure they weren’t rising or falling.

My disease started to progress in 2013. My spleen was growing and the doctors decided that I should have it removed. Following my splenectomy, I became transfusion dependent. It was a couple days a week. Then it was three days a week. Then it was every day.

Timmy dropped me off in the morning, went to work and I laid in the bed all day waiting for my blood and getting it transfused. And he’d pick me up on his way home and it got bad. And it gets old. You feel helpless. I said, “Honey, I can’t do this anymore.” And he called to check on our status because I was on the National Registry for donors. And he called and it just happened. This woman called that day. She was a perfect match.

Timmy, he’s my world. I mean, without him, I don’t think I would have made it through. He cleaned the house, he shopped, he cooked. He wasn’t too bad either.

He took care of the dog. When we had to move out of state for a while, he made sure everything was packed up, delivered. My appointments were set up. He took me everywhere. He did everything for me.

I’m cancer free for many years now and happy that I’m still here to talk about it and hopefully help other people by talking about it.

For someone who is newly diagnosed, I think one of the most important things is listen to your body. If something doesn’t feel right you have to make sure that you tell someone. I would tell my caregiver right away.

I hope with me telling you my story, that people will listen to their bodies, listen to their caretaker, their healthcare team, because it’s a big team. And never give up hope.

You can explore educational tools, resources, and stories to help navigate all aspects of myelofibrosis at MappingMF.com

TEXT ON SCREEN:
Mapping Myelofibrosis
Explore MappingMF.com for more information.

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NPUS-AOUCOCO260010 July 2026
Produced in USA.