A local man has spoken out to raise awareness of a rare disease following his own diagnosis in 2020.
David Commins from Thurles found out he had AL amyloidosis almost two years ago, which is an illness caused by an abnormality in certain cells found in the bone marrow.
David says it is a cousin to cancer, and he has been receiving chemo treatment for it.
He says that often it can go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed as other illnesses.
David is urging anyone who may notice things like elevated heart rate, swollen ankles, low blood pressure and continued fatigued to get themselves checked.
He told Tipp Today that catching it early has meant he feels much better now.
“I’m feeling great. As I said before I woke up that morning and I said to my wife Ann we have to do something – I just don’t feel right and my body was telling there was something wrong.”
I did not understand how finely tuned our body is. The slightest little tick-tock either way to knock it out of synch. You can say that these proteins in my body are so small and they can have such a devastating effect.”
