Elsa's story!

Hi, my name is Elsa. In September 2020, I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s ALCL Lymphoma, which is a rare form of blood cancer. I had six rounds of intense chemotherapy at The Royal Marsden Hospital. I was only 11 years old at the time, and they took absolutely amazing care of me.

In hospital, I was unbelievably resilient — mainly because I had no other choice. I was very sick, exhausted, and spent much of my time either in a wheelchair or in bed. This was incredibly hard, especially as an 11-year-old turning 12, spending my birthday in hospital, and missing my entire first year of secondary school. It was also during lockdown, so I wasn’t allowed visitors, and only one parent could be with me.

I did make some friendships there, though heartbreakingly, not all of those friends made it. That has had a huge impact on me. Despite everything, the hospital staff were the most amazing people. They made my experience as positive as possible, with so many thoughtful touches for each patient — we even received presents on Christmas.

This February, I will be five years in remission, which means I’m now at a significantly reduced risk of relapse — something every cancer patient should be able to celebrate if they get the chance. To mark this milestone, I’m planning to celebrate with my very own fundraising event to raise funds for the hospital that treated me, The Royal Marden, turning this achievement into something that can help others going through what I did.

Thank you for reading my story and for giving what you are able to.

The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity raises money to improve the lives of people affected by cancer. We ensure The Royal Marsden’s world-leading nurses, doctors and research teams can provide the very best care and develop life-saving treatments, which are used across the UK and around the world.

From funding state-of-the-art equipment and groundbreaking research, to creating the very best patient environments, we will never stop looking for ways to improve the lives of people affected by cancer.