Exploring your options: Why a myelodysplastic syndrome patient didn't settle

Options. That's all Richard Ware wanted when he was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a form of leukemia, in July 2013.

Unfortunately, the doctors he saw in his hometown gave him onlyone."In my first consultation, I felt very rushed into a certain type of treatment program," Richard says. "As I asked questions about how the treatment would affect me, I felt very pressured into this one form of treatment."

When Richard asked about alternative forms of MDS treatment, he was told there weren't any. He refused to believe that, so he began researching on his own and learned about MD Anderson.

Choosing MD Anderson for MDS treatment
"I reached out to MD Anderson and was very surprised at how quickly the doctors in the leukemia department got back to me," Richard says.

He recalls how important he felt when the doctors really took an interest in what he wanted. He flew down to Houston for a consultation and instantly felt at home. "The most important thing in my life is my family, and MD Anderson takes a family approach to the healing process," he says. "They helped me understand what I was going through and gave me the tools to overcome it, which allowed me to get my life back as soon as possible."

In the end, Richard chose MD Anderson because the doctors hespoke with offered him the most-advanced MDS treatment options, including numerous clinical trials, many of which aren't available elsewhere.

And, as a result of groundbreaking research and cutting-edge technologies being used and developed as part of MD Anderson's Moon Shots Program, which seeks to dramatically reduce cancer deaths, he believes MD Anderson offers better ways of treating others like him, and maybeone day, curing MDS.

Myelodysplastic syndrome is one of the cancers MD Anderson is focusing on as part of our MoonShots Program to dramatically reduce cancer deaths. Learn more about ourAML/MDS Moon Shot.