Alan Portman

Thank you for visiting Alan’s site. Your support and warm thoughts are greatly appreciated during his journey back to wellness.

Alan was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a form of leukemia that disrupts normal production of blood cells and leads to scarring in the bone marrow. Side effects include anemia, weakness, fatigue, and an enlarged spleen. In Alan’s case, his “big ass spleen” (the doctor’s official diagnosis) has overtaken most of his abdomen and started to encroach on his vital organs.

Doctors first noticed symptoms after Alan took Humira to treat Ankylosing Spondylitis(pronounced ank-kih-low-sing spon-dill-eye-tiss), a disorder in the arthritis family that causes fusing and immobility in the spine and hips. After taking Humira for several months, Alan’s white blood cell count started to rise and his abdomen became distended. Alan stopped taking the medication but the damage had been done. Chemotherapy has not improved Alan’s white cell count, so doctors are now recommending other treatment options.

Alan will need to go through a couple of procedures. Because his spleen is disrupting other organs, posing a danger of rupturing, and causing great discomfort, Alan’s doctors will start with a splenectomy on March 29th. After Alan has recovered from the splenectomy, doctors will start preparing for a bone marrow transplant. Thankfully, a donor has been identified!

We will post updates to the site. Please check back and leave Alan words of encouragement!