A Cancer Free World- It Doesn’t Have To Be a Dream

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to read my blog. My name is Ribh, and I want to raise awareness for Cancer Research UK and how they want to make this world cancer free. Many people know about this charity, but not everyone knows about the finer details to the charity. My family and I have been affected by cancer, and I feel very strongly about raising awareness for cancer, what help there is to offer and, most importantly, changing the way you think about cancer. When you have read my blog, I hope that you will think about cancer in a different way and know a little bit more about what it can do.

This is the story of Kathryn Cartwright. Kathryn Cartwright was 16-years-old when she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells. Having undergone successful chemotherapy and multiple transplants, she is all too aware of how precious life can be. Her story began in August 2007, when she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.  She quotes: “My story is fairly unique, actually, totally and utterly- there is a paper being written about me- and I think it might help people who feel like they're at the end realize that there's always hope. I needed a stem cell transplant as soon as possible because standard treatment would have most likely resulted in relapse. I had a Peripheral Stem Cell Transplant (PSCT) in December of that year from my sister and it went incredibly well and I was home in thirteen days, fastest transplant ever. I didn’t get any graft-versus host disease (GVHD), a common complication following a tissue replacement, so no graft vs. Leukemia.”

But in April 2008, Kathryn relapsed. Again, she started chemotherapy, with a one in five chance of survival. She then had her second transplant in July 2008. This time, she had extensive GVHD in her skin and gut. Once it was under control, she went home, but unfortunately, the GVHD spread to her eyes. They managed to get it sorted, then on Halloween 2008; she spiked a temperature and went to hospital. She then found out that she had GVHD in her liver. Bile was leaking into her bloodstream and slowly poisoning her. She then had a liver transplant on 21^st December 2008. She also had a bone marrow transplant, to get rid of the cells. She had 6 months of rehab of learning how to walk and eat again. She sometimes uses a wheelchair, and is now out of serious danger.

This is what cancer can do to people, and Kathryn’s family was seriously affected by what happened. To find out more about cancer, go to www.cancerresearchuk.org/.

Thank you for reading my blog. Please post me a response with your thoughts. Please could you answer the following questions in your post. If you do post, could you please tell me where you come from (hometown, country)

• Had you heard of Cancer Research UK before reading this blog?
• Would you now make a donation to Cancer Research UK?
• Would you now support Cancer Research UK on eBay?
• Tell your family and friends about the blog?
• Thanks again!

Ribh