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My rubbish blood- Aplastic Anaemia blog

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My rubbish blood- Aplastic Anaemia blog

Aplastic Anaemia diagnosis Feb 22, failed ATG March 22, BMT March 23, bowel cancer diagnosis August 23. Lung lobectomy May 26. Enough now. 🤣🫣

07/05/2026

3yrs and 3 months post transplant.

I guess my body has been missing the hospital food coz Im going back in🤯🫣

Back in March I had a CT scan on my bowel, you know its not great when they ring you within 24hrs… bowel is fine… phew…. BUT (never a word you like to hear but I often do) there is a mass on your lung.

Not a complete surprise as I knew I had cysts thanks to pre-transplant screening, but they’ve grown & changed & we want you to speak to respiratory. No problem.

She rings me that same afternoon and gets me to come in.

Lots of lung function tests (which I aced I like to Add- good old running!) later and I speak to a consultant who orders a PET scan. Marvellous… who doesn’t want to be radioactive? ☢️

A week later I find myself injected with more stuff that I swear makes me glow in the dark and into the scanner I go.

Good news- I didn’t light up
Bad news- although there isn’t any *obvious* cancer, it could still be there or turn cancerous so they’d like to take it out.

Okay… the mass right? Nooo Laura… half your lung. Of course… take a lobe of my lung… breathing is overrated anyway. 🤣🫣

So when would you like to do this Dr?
Dr: Next week okay?

Wtf. 😬 erm…. Can I just process that I was fine, get my life in order and come back in 2? Of course.

So today was pre-assessment and surgery is on the 20th (because I decline to be cut open on the 13th and he operates on Wednesdays)

Bloody good job my blood is behaving init?

Funniest question of the day….

Have you ever had a blood transfusion? Just once or twice my love. Just once or twice.

Bye 🫁 ###x

30/01/2026

34 months + BMT.
Overloaded with appointments today.
1. Seeing colorectal team- ordered for genetics testing to see if I carry a faulty gene that leaves me predisposed to certain cancers. If this turns out to be the case then I will have lifelong monitoring (twice yearly colonoscopies) and probably be offered a hysterectomy. Also some possible implications for relatives 🫣😢 BUT might not be that yet.
2. Across to Queens, routine and genetics bloods. Lovely to catch up with my fave phlebotomists.
3. Telephone consultation with Leeds. They are very happy with me from a haematology point of view. Bone marrow is working and they are happy to leave me another 6 months. All my memories of 3 years ago keep coming up…. Feels like a distant dream now yet its still such a big part of my every day. Just keep running LB… just keep running…..

18/12/2025

33 months + BMT.

Today I carry my survival with gratitude and grief. Today I was back where it all began just for some bloods that Leeds have requested. I walked into the once very familiar phlebotomy room and my ‘usual’ lady wasn’t in her chair in the corner. It was just empty. ‘Is she on her day off?’ I asked as I climbed into the chair opposite.
‘Have you not been for a while?’
‘No, not here why?’
‘She died. It was all very sudden. We are devastated’

I honestly feel like I was pushed into next week.

Three times a week I sat in her chair for over a year. We chatted about everything and nothing. She laughed at me going for a run before having my transfusions. Though I was mad. She told me she thought about me when I was having my treatments and wished me well when I left for Leeds for transplant.

All these people that carry you on your journey and then they are gone. At 51.

A poignant reminder of gratitude for all those that dedicate their lives to helping others. 🥰💔 ###x

03/11/2025

2 years 7 months post BMT.

Last week was another colonoscopy day. 12 more polyps sent for biopsy 🙏🏼

BUT while my bowel seems to dislike me, my bloods continue to behave 🥰 telephone consultation with local haematology team today (I was driving so couldn’t write down the numbers) but my bloods were roughly: Hb 140’s, platelets 180’s, neuts 2.6. Liver and kidney function all good (except the high bilirubin which they aren’t bothered about) and ferritin at 140 which is normal! My recent abdominal CT scan was all fine too 🙌🏼
Other than that, enjoying running and keeping busy!
8 weeks until results and then I can sleep easy again!

13/03/2025

2 years and 4 days post BMT.
Look at my bloods guys. Absolutely amazing. Can’t believe they belong to me! Had a lovely 2nd re-birth, lovely card from The Aplastic Anaemia Trust & a hamper of goodies from my loved ones. The last photo is from two years and today. Gosh I was so poorly 😢but then I see these numbers and I know it was all worthwhile. 🩸 💪
Would love to meet the person that donated me this marvellous blood making machine I have working for me. 🥰

01/03/2025

BMT (-8 days until 2 years post BMT) So this time 2 years ago I was going into hospital ‘tomorrow’. This time this year I have finally submitted my ‘thank you’ contact to my donor.

You are not allowed contact in the first two years for various reasons (some countries don’t allow it at all). It has to go through an intermediary initially.

I wrote mine and one of my sister’s friends kindly translated it into German for me. (Thank you to those that offered it was so amazingly kind) I didn’t want to ‘google translate’ as I wanted it to read like it should (I remember years ago having to use it to tell a mum her baby had oral thrush- she looked at me and shook her head and said ‘no bird in baby mouth’ ive never trusted it since 🤣🤣🤣)

He donated his amazing cells on 23rd February 2023 and I received them on 9th March 2023. 🇩🇪

He saved my life. Finding the right words was crazy hard. 🥰

27/01/2025

22 months post BMT
Cheeky trip to Leeds. This place will give me anxiety until the day I die. However bloods are all behaving. Slight drop in everything but as I have had every cough/cold/virus known to man I figured I would have taken a bit of a battering. BUT still all NORMAL.

I asked my nurse about contacting my donor as this can be done at 2 years post transplant. If anyone speaks fluent German and wants to help me out that would be much appreciated 🤣

Don’t really know how to find the words to say thank you for the gift of life but I will definitely try. 🇩🇪 🙏🏼💪🥰

So now normal bloods, bowel put back together, eye is still rubbish but the best it is going to be. What a journey! 🤯

21/10/2024

19 months post BMT.

I have had anxiety about this appointment for a few weeks. Walking into any haematology/oncology unit now seems to have this profound physiological effect on me. I could almost pass out just at the thought of it. It’s all the same but different.

I had a great catch up with the phlebotomist who used to care for my central lines.

Then I bumped into an old uni friend in the waiting room and sat and chatted without thinking too much about what my numbers would be. It was so nice to catch up.

Then the wait…… ive spent so many hours in that waiting room.

I was called through and then saw my nurse specialist who I haven’t seen for such a long time (this is my first time back to my local hospital) and I just wanted to hug and hug and hug her. I probably squeezed her inappropriately tightly but I just felt everything she did for me come flooding back. She fought for me, advocated for me, reassured me and picked me up off the floor on my lowest day. And it was amazing to see her.

My numbers speak for themselves. All normal. Fantastic. Brilliant. I cant believe they are mine! I feel so lucky.

Bowel resection next week (🤢) and then hopefully this whole crazy time can be chalked up to being a chapter in my story that I can process and move on from! 😘

19/08/2024

17 months post BMT. Long time no post! I am back to work and finally back onto normal duties, it felt like it took forever to get there but finally back doing what I love! 👶🏼

Leeds haven’t seen me in 3 months, had bloods done at the GP surgery like a normo. Honestly think it is the first time they have ever appeared with ‘Normal- no further action’ in the message box 🤣
Thyroid a bit borderline but thats okay.
Bowel surgery planned for October but I’m feeling good and loving feeling so well. Nearly holiday time for the first time in years. Who would have thought that after the posts this time last year? Hair is growing back too 🥰

If you are new on your AA/bone marrow failure journey- there can be a light 💡 at the end of a very tough journey. 🙏🏽

20/05/2024

14 months post BMT, at Leeds today and these are my results! Normal, normal, normal, normal. **little happy dance**

In my heart I knew they were okay. I ran on Saturday and got a parkrun PB of 23:46. I used to be able to predict my haemoglobin based on how fast I could complete a parkrun. At 60g/l it would take me an hour. I couldn’t get under 30mins unless it was over 110g/l.
Now its sitting at midrange 147g/l and my speed it returning. Ive been back to work a couple of months, Ive joined an athletics club. I’m doing alllll the things.

The last photo came up on my facebook memories this week, I do not miss bruises at all. I remember the pain whenever anyone so much as touched me. My husband or children would accidentally knock against me and I’d nearly cry with pain that was disproportionate to what happened but I was so bruised constantly and it’s only recently dawned on me I don’t do that anymore. I bashed my shin the other day and thought to myself that is going to be horrendous. Nothing. Absolutely nothing appeared. Blows my mind.

Leeds want to transfer/share care with my local hospital now because it’s almost a waste of time travelling to Leeds to tell them Im fine. I feel so grateful and very lucky 🍀

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