A surprise diagnosis
When I was 17, I was diagnosed with Aplastic Anaemia, a rare blood cancer that turned everything upside down. I was always quite active - I was able to go to school, meet friends, spend time with family and have very busy weekends. All of a sudden, I started developing really bad headaches and feeling exhausted after the smallest activity. Even simple things, like cooking with my cousins tired me out or spending time with my grandparents on the sofa exhausted me completely. I ended up sleeping for up to 14 hours a day which was very unlike me. The tiredness spread and my arms and legs would start to pulse and muscles would ache from just walking up the stairs. I would have to take two steps at a time and then sit down. There was one time when I fell asleep brushing my teeth despite only being awake for 2 hours that day. I knew something was wrong but kept trying to sweep it under the carpet. I was doing my A Levels and super excited to study at university and I did not want anything to come in the way of my plans. My dad convinced me to have a blood test - I’m super squeamish and not great with needles so it took a lot of convincing! The following morning at 3am we got a knock at our front door and an emergency out-of-hours doctor arrived, urging me to go to hospital. I was so surprised and confused, though deep down I was super relieved that there was an answer why I had been feeling so awful for so long - I had started to think I was just being lazy and had made everything up!
My only chance of survival
The following 12 hours were a bit of a blur, my Dad raced me to hospital and I had lots of tests and strange looks from Doctors that I was trying to decipher but no answers until the following afternoon when I was told that I had cancer and everything would change. I was treated in the Teenage Cancer Trust ward which was amazing to be with other people my age who understood balancing school life, friendships and family whilst also facing a very serious illness. I just wanted to be normal, but normal things did not come easily. I had months more tests and scans and sped through treatment plans that weren’t working before I was suddenly told that my only chance of survival was to have a stem cell transplant. I knew a little bit about that from A Level Biology and being on the ward for so long so I was not very concerned at the start. I had lots of friends on the wards that were told similar things and they all found stem cell donors in no time and were on the mend. I thought this would be the same for me, but I had not realised one big important thing about all those friends - they were white. I had not thought too much about race or religion or gender when I had been diagnosed, it seemed like everyone was diagnosed and affected by cancer in
similar ways and I did not think any differently about it. My friends on the ward and their families all sent well wishes, thoughts and lots of prayers for me and so did my family for everyone else that was ill at the time too.
Hope from my Dad
I was told that the best chance of surviving a transplant was to have a good match. For most of my friends finding a match did not take long - one of my friends found 3 matches on the register within a week of looking. I had been waiting for 6 months, getting weaker and weaker with not one match. It was hard to keep up my strength, I was down to 5 stone and I could see my family’s worried expressions every time they came to visit. Time was ticking and we had nothing but hope that I would be okay. Long story short and I managed to have a stem cell transplant from my Dad - it was rare and risky but I managed to make it through. The process through the transplant and recovery was gruelling, I struggled to do simple things and even walking from the hospital bed to the chair next to me was exhausting.
I never want anyone else to go through that anguish
It is now 13 years since I had the transplant that gave me a life. Those months of waiting by the phone and looking up at the hospital bedroom door hoping a doctor would give me good news were agonising. I never want anyone else to have to go through that anguish of putting your hopes and faith in the generosity of strangers to save your life. Knowing that we are able to sign up to donate and stop the anxiety of waiting for a match to surface is priceless and something that I hope more people continue to do. Relying on your race because it has not been as forthcoming as my white friends made me feel very scared. Why was it that people from my background were not signing up and helping people? Were Asians less deserving of treatment? Had we done something wrong? Should I feel embarrassed that my race has less representation on the donor register? Is my life not worth as much as my white friends…? I had lots of questions circling my mind during the months where I had to wait and see if I was going to be lucky enough to have a chance of survival; and these are questions I hope no other cancer patient has to consider.
You could save a life
Thankfully I am alive, well and healthy now and the transplant worked wonders. I am incredibly grateful for the NHS, Anthony Nolan and my wonderful friends and family who stuck by my side when I was too ill to eat, too tired to talk and too grumpy to join in. This Ramadan I think about the fact that I am happy and healthy and during these days I find it is important to reflect on all the wonderful things I am blessed with and above all, my health. Unfortunately blood cancers and illnesses are not disappearing and whilst I was able to resume studies and carry on living a relatively normal life, there are lots of people out there who did not get that chance and sadly there are lots of people who are in the same position I was when I was 17. I think it is really important to reflect on the bad times as it really makes me appreciate everything that I have right now. If I can say one thing this Ramadan, it is that during these fasts when we think about others, another way that we can help those less fortunate is by signing up and sharing the name of the stem cell register. By signing up as a potential donor, you can give someone like 17 year old me a second chance at life and there is no greater gift than that. It takes one person to save a life - and that person can be you!