On 5th December 2019 I was admitted to hospital as I was feeling extremely poorly to the point I was struggling to stand. Numerous tests etc were carried to no avail. A bone marrow biopsy was taken on 9th December and the results on 10th. I was diagnosed with a rare AML, Type M6, and the prognosis was not good when searching the internet hoping for answers. My first chemo started 13th December, needless to say Christmas was awful for not only myself, but for family and friends.

At the end of January I was discharged for a week having reached remission of only 2% blasts. After that week at home, I returned to Russell's Hall for my second round of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, not only the usual side effects were taking hold of me, but I was developing signs of neuropathy, which made it painful to walk and move. After this chemo I had another outpatient term for approximately 2 weeks end of February. Again, having had a lovely time at home, back in hospital start of March for my 3rd round of chemo to prepare me for the planned stem cell transplant at the end of April.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse. This drug had very high toxicity and I was violently sick and poorly within 2 hours of starting the round. In addition, I contracted sepsis and we believe I almost passed away. No visitors were allowed due to Covid. Once I was awake, I found I had lost the total use of my legs and almost my hands and fingers. Unbeknown to me, I had been diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy with Ataxia amongst other things.

As I was unable to walk, the staff at Russell's Hall Hospital said the stem cell transplant could not go ahead. I was discharged end of April with a walking frame. Through grit and determination my husband and I worked hard on exercises and I was able to walk again, albeit for only very short distances.

Having kept in contact with Professor Charlie Craddock's team at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, they gave me the assurance that they would fight for the stem cell transplant and I would have access to a groundbreaking trial called Amadeus and that gave me hope. The transplant commenced on the 30th June 2020 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, using my lovely determined sister's cells, and was completed on 1st July 2020.

On the 14th July I was discharged and have since been monitored closely by the consultants and the team in Birmingham.

I am nearly 100 days post stem cell transplant and feel well, but still have a lot of work to do on mobility.

Now I want to do all I can to help others by raising funds for Cure Leukaemia. Every penny raised through this page will go towards funding a specialist research nurses at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham to enable more people like me to access potentially life-saving treatment. Xx