It feels important to support Bright Red because nearly 19 years ago on the 26th November 2004 I was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia.
I was young to be given this diagnosis as I was only 31 years old. It is typically a man’s disease over the age of 60.
I had only lost my Nana 9 months before my diagnosis of Non hodgkin’s lymphoma.
I was diagnosed at the RVI by Professor Proctor. It was a devastating diagnosis because I had plans for my future which had to change because of the effects of the medication ( glivec imatinib) I was put on.
I gained a huge amount of weight, had severe joint pain, headaches, sickness and nausea.
I also developed higher amounts of anxiety and depression because of the diagnoses. Also the diagnoses brought on extra stresses like financial worries. 6 months after my diagnosis I fell pregnant with my son. That was also a stressful time. I was heavily monitored throughout the pregnancy as there was so little literature on pregnancy, glivec and CML.
On the 2nd March 2006 Mathew was born 6 weeks early. He was an extremely healthy weight for being early and only spent a short amount of time in the baby unit at Wansbeck Hospital. He was the 4th baby born worldwide on Glivec. Having Mathew was one of my proudest and biggest challenges in life.
In 2008 I was offered a newer drug called Tasigna (Nilotinib) with the promise of less side effects. The nausea isn’t as bad but I still get some joint pain, headaches, brain fog, fatigue however the sickness is something that doesn’t happen so often.
Part of the side effects is hair thinning which sometimes gets me feeling down. I have to be monitored for arterial heart disease and diabetes as Tasigna can cause these issues.
I get blood checks every 16 weeks to make sure the medications are working still and get yearly checks for my heart and glucose levels.
Apart from all of this I do my best to live a normal life where I can (working around my fatigue levels). I like being outdoors, cycling, camping, watching films, and going in the sea.
It is important for me to share my story so others know that they too can live with cancer and that there are valuable community professional services available who can help in such times of need. It’s important to connect with others and support each other.
I have found Bright Red to be supportive and encouraging especially when I lost my uncle to multiple myeloma a year and a half ago.