My schoolmates were shocked when I told them I had leukaemia and then a little confused, just as I was when I found out.
I had not even been feeling ill. My mum got a bit worried about me when I had a bit of diarrhoea and said I should go to the doctors. I had some blood tests and went home. At first we thought I might be glucose intolerant and spent the evening joking about that. The next morning I was called back to the doctors with my dad and I was told I had leukaemia.
I did not know what to think, and it was my parents reaction to the news that shocked me the most, as I did not really feel any different. I still do not feel any different.
I am currently on drug control chemotherapy, so my life has not changed much and I still go to school everyday, but need to visit the hospital about once a week for check ups. I found out in January that the chemotherapy has not been working, so now I am searching for a bone marrow donor.
I speak to my school friends about it and I know they want to help but most of them are still only 16 so they cant, but have said when they are old enough they will join the register. But without me getting leukaemia they would not know anything about this.
I can tell them about what processes are involved in terms of getting on the register but maybe not much more than that, which is where an education programme would be so good.
I reckon, that it is not that people do not want to help; its just that they do not know that they are in a position to help.
If I had the opportunity to talk to other people my age about the register, I would tell them that it is something that everyone is capable of doing. That it is something that will take up such a small amount of their time but could in the end save someones life. It is something that should be done by everyone. It is such a necessary thing.
Its like most things. If people know about it, they are able to make an informed decision. I had not heard about bone marrow transplants until I was diagnosed with leukaemia. I knew about donating blood because my parents do it, but these are not things we are taught. I know what is involved now and if other people were to learn and find out more about the bone marrow register, I feel they would be more likely to put their name forward to help.
