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Lee’s Stem Cell Transplant Journey 2023, Perth (2026)

24/09/2025

TWO YEAR VACCINATIONS

Well the time has come that I am getting my two year vacations. Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Pneumococcal. After a chat with my haematologist my bloods are all doing really well and on track. I’ve made it to this far and over the most common time period for relapse now onto the goal of making it to 5 years. Apparently when I reach 10 years after my transplant day they say that I will be in full remission.

It feels AMAZING to come this far and I am so very grateful for my life and all that I have.

I feel safe enough now to start making some longer term goals and the plan is to travel and continue making my art with the hope of making some money out of it too along the way.

I guess you wont hear from me for some time now but will post on my third year rebirth day.

Thank you to ALL who have supported me near and far through these past two years and two months and to those reading this who have/are going through the same experience as I have/am dont ever give up and dont lose hope (still message me if you need anything at all, I am here and will always have time)…
Onwards and upwards.
✨🪷✨

28/07/2025

TWO YEARS today since my stem cell transplant that saved my life. I’ve mixed emotions as they have been two of the hardest years of my life. Not only physically but mentally. I’ve definitely changed as a person.

In these last two years Ive been well enough and blessed to travel, sell my art, been invovled in a car accident, welcomed a refugee into my home, taught art classes, started a craft club in my suburb, painted a mural, started an air bnb side business, fell and cut my chin, made new frindships, fostered old ones and let some go, learned batik, had house renovations… its been a good two years of slow progress

This year I am back working as a teacher for the first time in four years. Started working two days a week but had to go down to one day because my body wasn’t coping.

My health is still a work in progress as I get sick regularly with pneumonia and chest infections. GVHD of the mouth has left me permanenly with dry mouth. This has lead to me having 6 fillings on my front 6 teeth (too and bottow) and losing a bit of weight as it’s really unpleasant eating. With every mouth of food I have to sip water to help chew and swallow which is a hassle.

I’m still meeting every three months with my haematologist and will soon go for the two year vaccinations, to my knowledge these will be my last needles.

I will also see if I can make contact with my donor. It’s been two years and I should be allowed to. I would really like to thank them for all they have done for me… so I will keep you posted about this!

Here are some photos of milestones and memories taken within the last two years.

Here is to many, many more years of health… it is very true that ‘your health IS your wealth’.
🥂🪷🫶🏼e

15/03/2025

20 MONTHS POST TRANSPLANT

An update on how things are going almost two years since my stem cell transplant.

This year I started back at work teaching two days a week. Some days driving to work, I still have to pinch myself that I have actually made it this far and I am a working woman again. It was scary to walk back into school after 3.5 years, but amazing at the same time, and I felt so welcomed by the staff. Five weeks into the term and it feels like I never left 😂

As well as teaching, I also work two part-time jobs and have the Airbnb, so life has become busy and I am still playing catch up. My body is having trouble with the extra movement that comes from general work, but it’s coping and I am proud that I'm becoming stronger, physically and mentally. Stretching helps so much and soon i will get back into either yoga or pilaties. Also the last couple of weeks Ive been catching up with friends more because I feel more energetic, and today I went for my first hike with Indi and felt alive.

I am officially off all medication connected to my transplant. Tests are still being done on what’s causing my body pain, a few major things like rheumatoid arthritis have been ruled out which is a relief. It’s even possible that it is GVHD. Ive been given anti inflammation medicine to help but my goal is to be medication free.

I still have GVHD in my mouth and as a result my mouth produces no saliva at all. This has led to some complications like ulcers and my front teeth (top and bottom) have holes in them. A dentist visit on Monday that I am not looking forward to. Having no saliva I have had to adjust my diet because a lot of the food I previously loved (like apples and oranges) I can no longer eat.

I have appointments with the haematology team and very 2-3 months and now every second visit is face to face. As you can see my head is still sporting the chemo curls and I’ve become quite attached to them and kind of want them to stick around.

Thanks so much for your support over the last few years. I hope that these posts continue to give information and helps someone.
Lee 💖

15/05/2024

9.5 MONTHS POST TRANSPLANT
It’s been a while since I have last posted. I have to be honest it’s been a rollercoaster journey and patience has been so important in my healing. Regardless of how slow recovery feels I can tell you that you are always moving forward. Just keep trusting in your medical team. I am now feeling better and beginning to tick off some life and medical goals/milestones that I have had plenty of time to think about and reassess … it’s incredible!

HEALTH: I had my second lot of baby vaccinations 5 in each shoulder. This time I had some side effects from them, temperatures and very sore arms for about 9 days. My next lot of vaccinations will be at the 12 months mark.

Four days ago I was put back onto steroids for GVHD of the mouth and skin. Tomorrow I have to pick up a special steroid mouthwash which will hopefully help as I have no saliva at all which makes eating very uncomfortable because of this I generally eat one meal a day. I am very lucky it is a mild case. It is preferred that you get mild GVHD because it helps to keep the leukaemia away. I am still leukaemia free which feels amazing!

WORK: I’m a working girl again. It’s been 2.5 years since I have worked and I have nabbed myself an awesome casual job at a Sip and Paint in Freo teaching adults how to paint step by step while they enjoy a drink, the tunes and some nibbles. One of my reassessments was to immerse myself in living a life of doing art and being true to the talent I have. I am loving the creativity so much. I have also begun painting my first mural. A mural is something I have wanted to do for years but not had the courage or self belief to do it. I hope it’s the beginning of more mural opportunities and will open doors…

LIFE: I am managing to walk three days a week down the beach pretty regularly now and will increase soon to four days. Today I had my first hair cut which was another milestone. I’m cooking again, cleaning the house, seeing friends more (who are just fabulous humans)

Life is great☺️

08/11/2023

On the 5th November I celebrated 100+ post transplant. A small gathering of nearest & dearest. It’s a milestone & I feel extremely fortunate to have made it this far. I had my three month bone marrow biopsy last Wednesday & this Wednesday was told that I am officially leukaemia free. I broke down and cried. It’s the first time in 20 years that I’ve been free of this disease. It’s everything I could hope for!

In saying this It hasn’t been easy at all. I suffer from chronic diarrhoea daily, mucusitis still & exhaustion because my haemoglobin is still very low. I am tired of taking so many tablets morning and night & suffering the side effects. So many of my days are still lying in bed or on the couch. I’ve had to cancel many catch up dates with friends because I never know how I’m going to feel on any particular day. I can’t go back to work. No body knows the constant feeling of you being & feeling unwell because you look normal on the outside. This is not a whinge or a complaint at all, because I don’t roll that way. It’s the facts & the reason why I post on this blog is to give information. I understand it’s all part of the process of beating this disease & feeling this way is completely normal. I have a long way to go.

I wanted to share with you an experience I had in the waiting room on Wednesday while waiting for my haematologist. I had the privilege of talking to a few of the other patients & hearing their story about their journey to be disease free.

One man from canada originally & I began talking. I asked him if he would share his story with me. He said that he had a stem cell transplant 17 years ago. He told me that for the first 5 years after his transplant he was aware & conscience of the fact it might come back. He lived a life of eating healthy & keeping fit & he then relaxed into his life & kept on living not ever thinking he could (after so long) get sick again. He only discovered a few months ago that the disease had come back & he had to have a 2nd transplant. He became quite emotional as he was telling me this. He’s still in shock & devastated. Who would have thought after 17 years the disease would reappear … I cried with him too. I thought of his two little kids & wife. I hope I meet him again.

There were two other ladies I spoke to that morning. Both their stories were as moving as the man’s. One lady had her stem cell transplant 7 days before me so we would have been in the ward at the same time. She found out a month ago her grafting from the donor didn’t take & the disease was in blast phase again. She’s now starting at the beginning again and having to take medication to control the disease. She didn’t even make her 100 days!

I got to thinking that there is no guarantee on how long I have. This stem cell transplant is a second chance for me. Sure these past few months have been really sh*tty & so will the next few months be but it’s part of the process. The end goal is to finally feel well and be healthy! Now I need to make some goals for my future; how I’m going to live my life? what am I going to achieve? how can I help make this world a better place? I need to make sure that this second chance isn’t wasted on me.

06/09/2023

DAY +40 TWO WEEKS HOME!
Just arrived back from my twice weekly hospital check in at the clinic and received some great news. The doc said that my new stem cells are grafting really well. This is such great news. Also being slowly weaned off the steroids too.

Lee’s Stem Cell Transplant Journey 2023

24/09/2025

28/07/2025

15/03/2025

15/05/2024

08/11/2023

06/09/2023

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