Patient Perspective – Blogging for good

Vickie began blogging for Leukaemia Care as a way to help others with blood cancer. Here, she talks about the benefits of blogging and giving back.

Having chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) for nine and half years now, I wanted to do something to help others, but wasn’t sure what. I then thought of doing a blog about me, my experiences and my journey.

However, I wasn’t sure who to contact at first. Then ping; I thought, I could ask Leukaemia Care if I could write a blog for them. I wasn’t expecting them to say yes, but when they did, I was so happy and excited. I wanted to help others in any way possible, mostly by trying to keep positive and being truthful.

It has helped me to talk about it, to get it off my chest, as I like to talk, a lot. It reminds me of how lucky I am to be still here. Talking about things helps you. I wanted to talk about my journey and all aspects of my experiences to help others. If I can help one person, I will feel like I have achieved something.

Having blood cancer isn’t easy, as we all know. We have good and bad days. Some days are different how we deal with them. I get angry still – why do I have what I have? We cannot change that, but we can change our way of thinking. It has helped me a lot speaking about things. Maybe you could do something that you would feel could help you. It may be a blog, talking in groups, volunteering, or talking to other patients and offering a shoulder to cry on.

Volunteering for something is a great way to achieve something and helps people just like us. We all need someone to talk to. There are so many different ways to volunteer, even a parachute jump, but that is definitely not for me. There’s even trekking and fun runs. There is so much to get involved in, reminding you that you are kicking cancer’s butt!

I love doing my blogs, and I really hope I do help people.

Videos about diet

Do you ever wonder just how much pasta is the right amount? Or how many portions are in a punnet of grapes? Trying to maintain a balanced diet can be difficult, especially when you're being treated for, or recovering from, leukaemia. So, we've created a brand new video where we've simplified Public Health England's guidelines on portion sizes.

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