I want to share some good news I just learned. Nur has been battling a dangerous iron load for the past couple years. Two years ago, her T2* score was 8. This is a dangerous level that would eventually lead to heart failure. Nur's doctor told her to start desferal 7 days a week and I strongly encouraged her to follow this routine, even though it meant a return to the needle, after having started Exjade. Nur went on a 12 hours per day, 7 days a week desferal schedule. After one year, her T2* score was 13.8. That is out of the immediate danger zone, but still quite a problem. I continued to encourage her to chelate daily, as this was great progress but there was still a long way to go. As of today, Nur's T2* is 21 and she is back into the normal range. She can now also stop pumping and resume Exjade. As you can imagine, she is quite pleased with this outcome, as am I. I have had the pleasure of meeting Nur at two conferences and she is a lovely woman and a dear friend. I am so happy for her. Her young daughter is growing up fast and it's great that Nur can be here to watch her grow.
I want to make sure that everyone pays attention to the time span. It took a full two years of faithful and aggressive chelation for her T2* score to get into the normal range, even though her ferritin had dropped low much sooner. Don't be fooled by reaching a low ferritin level if you have had a serious iron load. This is great but it means that your free iron is finally under control and the chelator can now do the work of removing the iron from your tissue and organs. Be patient and stay compliant. Even severe iron loads can be reversed and the damage to the heart reversed, so please do follow the examples that we have seen in members of our group. This list just keeps growing and I am happy to be a part of it.