My Leukaemia Story - Part 2

We pick up my story at Great Ormond Street Hospital. I had just arrived in the back of an ambulance and was wheeled to Lion Ward. I remember being amazed by the the fact it was on the 6th floor.

When I arrived at the ward I was instantly greeted by my nurse, Helena, who showed me to my very own room (complete with en-suite bathroom and everything). She instantly reassured me that I was in safe hands, and couldnt do enough to help. After feeling tense and nervous, the conversation with her left me feeling very calm, I could tell that I was in the best place possible.

The next day, a group of doctors came into my room and began to explain the situation. They said that it was either a Lymphoma in my chest, or Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. Apparently the mass found in my chest was around the size of an orange. A Hickman Line was to be surgically fitted.

A Hickman line is a tube that goes near my heart, with two pipes hanging out of my chest. It is designed so that I can have chemo and blood transfusions without needing constant injections.

While the doctors would be fitting my Line, they would also do a Bone Marrow test to determine whether it was Lymphoma or Leukaemia.

The next day I was having surgery. I have been told that the operation took about 4 hours, maybe longer.

When I woke up, my head was in agony... never had a headache like it. The nurse came into the recovery bay and dosed me up big style, using 2 different pain killers at least. Once the Morphine and Codeine had kicked in I felt well again, so they took me back to my room.

I remember sitting in my room that night, in darkness because of my headache, eating a McDonald's cheeseburger with my family. I think it is strange that I had just had surgery near MY HEART, yet I felt no discomfort AT ALL around my chest...good ol' pain-killers.

The next day the doctors came round with my diagnosis. Dr David Webb said to me that the Bone Marrow had shown up 98% Leukaemic cells...wow. He said that it was Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL), and that it is relatively common and pretty straight-forward to treat. He said that he would be my consultant, and the treatment typically lasts 3 years (a year longer than if I was a girl).

The chemotherapy would be intensive, and was planned to start straight away.

Tune in next time to find out what happens next.

Andrew

:)

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Glossary

Lymphoma - A type of cancerous tumour that forms on certain glands around your body. e.g. chest and neck.

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia - A cancer of the blood-making cells in your bone marrow.

Chemo (Chemotherapy) - The use chemicals to destroy cancer cells.

Blood Transfusion - The process of putting donated blood into somebody else to make them feel better when their blood counts are low.

Bone Marrow Test (Aspirate) - When a small amount of Bone Marrow (found in most bones) is removed and tested.

CT Scan - A three-dimensional x-ray.