Because my journey can help someone with theirs

I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in December 2014. In the months leading up to my diagnosis, I had a bad cold, sinusitis and conjunctivitis. I even had two rounds of antibiotics for gum pain, which didn’t help at all! I developed a rash all over my body and my face became very swollen.

I went to the doctors and gave blood samples. That evening, my doctor called and told me to go to the hospital, where I was diagnosed. I never imagined it would be as serious as leukaemia.

I developed an infection, where the source was unknown for some time. I was given numerous antibiotics, which failed to clear it up and I was in a lot of pain.

It turned out to be an infected fallopian tube. After 11 weeks in hospital, I was finally discharged. Finally, in April 2015, I was told that I was in remission.

Although the worst was over, I still felt very weak, but I was home and with my family.

The side effects of chemotherapy are awful. The worst of it was having painful sores that made it incredibly difficult to eat or swallow. I had absolutely no energy or immune system and developed horrible infections and side effects.

As part of the clinical trial I was on, called AML17, I had additional monitoring for minimal residual disease (MRD). This meant I had a bone marrow biopsy every three months for a further two years following remission. This part of the clinical trial was funded by Blood Cancer UK.

A few days after my first bone marrow biopsy, I was back in hospital for a keyhole surgery to remove the infected fallopian tube. Before the procedure, I was asked to do another bone marrow biopsy.

They didn’t say anything at the time, but it was clear that something was wrong. I was so worried. While recovering from surgery, I was told that the leukaemia had returned. It was such a huge blow, and I was absolutely devastated.

I had three cycles of chemotherapy and tried a new combination of chemotherapy drugs, which unfortunately didn’t work. Thankfully, I was able to have an experimental American drug, which showed a lot of promise in a small-scale clinical trial.

It was available in the UK, but only privately. Luckily, I had private medical insurance, and my employers agreed to fund two cycles.

This was so much better than chemotherapy. I had far fewer side effects and got back into remission in February 2016.

I was told that I needed to have a stem cell transplant to reduce the risk of my cancer returning. Fortunately, my sister was a match, but her body mass index was too high. While I was on treatment, she lost three and half stone. I’m really proud of her.

I’ve learned, first-hand, about the benefits of clinical trials and there are always new ones taking place. I had a pretty horrendous treatment journey, but I hope that by taking part in the clinical trial, someone else will have a better experience – with fewer side effects and a better chance of survival.