Andy is a 52 year old Castleman warrior from the United Kingdom. Andy was diagnosed with idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (CD) in 2017. He struggled with weight-loss, debilitating pain, headaches, various vision and hearing impairments, and fatigue. Like so many other patients, he had a long diagnostic journey and an even longer battle finding the right treatment that would help alleviate this symptoms. In addition to the physical toll this disease took on his body, it took an emotional toll as well; losing his job and drastically changing his lifestyle.
Andy found the CDCN and attended the Patient & Loved One Summit in 2017, which left him feeling hopeful and reinvigorated his fight against CD. He has participated in many aspects of the CDCN patient journey including donating samples, joining ACCELERATE, supporting other patients, and attending patient events. Though he has had several relapses, and failed therapies, he has now been on siltuximab for the last 18 months. Andy shared, “I’ve been on siltuximab nearly 18 months now and have some sort of life again! It has been a life saver for me and without the CDCN, I dread to think where I would be now, so a huge thank you for all the work everyone does to help us all”