Noted Science Fiction author Robert Jordan is ill with a very rare protein problem. He writes about it here:
Important note from Robert Jordan: March 25, 2006
I have been diagnosed with amyloidosis. That is a rare blood disease which affects only 8 people out of a million each year, and those 8 per million are divided among 22 distinct forms of amyloidosis. They are distinct enough that while some have no treatment at all, for the others, the treatment that works on one will have no effect whatsoever on any of the rest. An amyloid is a misshapen or misfolded protein that can be produced by various parts of the body and which may deposit in other parts of the body (nerves or organs) with varying effects. (As a small oddity, amyloids are associated with a wide list of diseases ranging from carpal tunnel syndrome to Alzheimer's. There's no current evidence of cause and effect, and none of these is considered any form of amyloidosis, but the amyloids are always there.
He will be going through some drastic therapy and the possibility of his death is not a remote one. Wish him well -- he will be in my prayers...
Wonder if this'll finally get him to hurry up and finish that d@mned 'saga' of his. I quit trying to keep up after Vol. 43...