Raising Awareness of Blood Cancer Thanks to Griffblog

Today I have a guest post from, Sam the blogger behind Griffblog, a UK-based travel, fashion and lifestyle blog. Blood Cancer is something very close to her heart as you will find out in the below post and I think she is so brave for writing about and sharing her story with us all.

Did you know over 84% of British adults cannot confidently identify common symptoms of blood cancer*? Up until 6 months ago, I was one of those people.

There are three main types of blood cancer; Leukaemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma.

In February 2019 I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which affects almost 2,000 people in the UK every year. I’m hoping that by sharing my experience I can help to raise awareness of blood cancer, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and some of the charities and organisations who help those affected.

*Source: Bloodwise UK

What are the main symptoms of blood cancer?

When I first started experiencing symptoms late in 2018, I found it easy to dismiss them as “nothing serious”. I was 27 years old and had never had any problems with my health.

Even after I went to my GP and was referred to a haematology specialist, I never seriously thought I could have cancer.

I’m so thankful that my GP took my symptoms seriously. Although Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is considered rare, it is more common in young adults and people over 70. I was diagnosed relatively early and was able to start treatment straight away.

Blood cancer symptoms vary from person-to-person. You can see a full list on the Bloodwise website, but these are some of the symptoms I personally experienced;

• Extreme tiredness/fatigue
• Persistent infections
• Breathlessness
• Itchy skin
• Lumps/swellings in the lymph nodes in my neck, chest and armpit

You can read more details on how I was diagnosed in my blog post here.

How is it treated?

There are various ways in which blood cancer can be treated, including;

• Chemotherapy
• Radiotherapy
• Biological therapies / immunotherapies / monoclonal antibodies
• Stem cell transplant

When I received my diagnosis I was told I would need 6 rounds of chemotherapy over 6 months, and this would give me over a 90% chance of going into full remission.

In the UK the first type of chemotherapy they use to try and treat Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is called AVBD (each initial basically stands for a different type of chemo drug). I had two rounds of AVBD, followed by a PET scan to check if it was working. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working as well as they would have liked, so for the remainder of my treatment, my consultant switched me to a different type of chemo (BEACOPP) which is much stronger.

What is a stem cell transplant?

A stem cell transplant involves replacing unhealthy blood cells in the body with healthy cells from the blood or bone marrow of a donor. Thousands of people worldwide require stem cell transplants every year. It’s usually considered as a treatment for blood cancer when other treatment options have been unsuccessful.

If you are aged 16-30 and in good health, you can register to become a stem cell donor via the Anthony Nolan charity (anthonynolan.org). If you are aged 17-55, you can check your eligibility to become a donor and register via DKMS.

Thank you for reading. If you have any further questions please feel free to get in touch with me on Twitter @samgriffblog or Instagram @samgriffyyy

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