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“I thought it was just hormones or overtraining, it turned out to be leukaemia”
If you’d told me a year ago that I had cancer, I would have laughed it off. I was 31 years old, fit, healthy, running regularly, eating well, and barely drinking. But underneath the surface, something wasn’t quite right.
It started with drenching night sweats. Not the kind you get from a hot summer’s night, these left me waking up completely soaked, night after night. At the same time, I was dealing with bone pain. I brushed that off, assuming I was just overtraining. I was running a lot then, pushing myself hard, and it seemed like a reasonable explanation.
Still, the night sweats nagged at me. They didn’t make sense. I went to the GP in March 2024, thinking maybe it was something hormonal – I have endometriosis, and I’d even wondered if I could be going through early menopause. All my blood work seemed normal, apart from a slight elevation in my basophils. Month after month, my GP kept checking my bloods. She took my concerns seriously even when others didn’t. When the haematology team initially rejected a referral, she fought for me to be seen. And thank goodness she did. By the end of July, I had a diagnosis: Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML).
It was absolutely devastating.
How could I, a young, healthy woman, have an incurable cancer? That word – cancer – just shattered everything I thought I knew about my life, my health, and my future. I still remember calling my dad in Spain, sobbing in the street, completely broken. I thought I was going to die.
That first day is a blur, but the very next day, I started searching for answers. I joined a online Facebook support group, which changed everything for me. Suddenly, I wasn’t alone. I found others who understood what I was going through, people living with CML, managing treatment, and still living full lives.
The truth is, CML is often diagnosed in people around 65, not in someone in their early 30s. That made everything feel even more isolating. I had no family nearby, just friends and colleagues here in the UK and I was facing appointments, scans, and emotional breakdowns largely on my own. But I’m so grateful to the wonderful community I found online, to my supportive workplace, and especially to my Macmillan nurse Jo at St George’s Hospital.
Today, I’m still in treatment. I take Imatinib every day and will most likely take for the rest of my life. I have blood tests every two months and BCR-ABL tests every three. The side effects are a bit less intense now, and physically, I’m doing okay. Emotionally? It’s still a rollercoaster. I take things one day at a time. I’ve learned to slow down to truly appreciate my time and energy. I’ve even reduced my working hours, which has helped a lot.
Running, walking, taking pictures, and staying creative have been my anchors. They help me stay strong, especially on the harder days.
If you’ve just been diagnosed, I want you to know this: it does get easier. The first weeks are chaotic and terrifying, weekly blood tests, new side effects, a sense that life as you knew it has stopped. But things begin to stabilise. You’ll find your rhythm.
This journey has opened my eyes in so many ways, to how taboo cancer still is, to how mental health needs to be part of the conversation, and to how much more empathy and understanding we all need. I’ve learned to value my life, my time, and my voice.
I hope my story helps someone out there recognise a symptom, push for answers, or feel a little less alone. If you think you have any of the symptoms that I had, speak to your GP and ask for a blood test. Early Diagnosis Saves Lives.