A Co Tyrone woman has opened up on her journey of living with leukaemia as charity groups encourage people to keep an eye out for the main symptoms of the disease.
Jayne Gibson, 55, from Cookstown says she was 'terrified' after getting migraines and sight loss as early symptoms, but was thankful to have had an early diagnosis
She says her symptoms started off with migraines and fatigue but she just put that down to working full-time.
READ MORE: Tyrone GAA legend remembered in memorial game
Jayne recalls how her GP had been keeping an eye on her blood counts for some time before she was diagnosed with essential thrombocythaemia and polycythaemia vera, two types of blood cancer.
The charity Leukaemia UK says early diagnosis is highly important in saving lives, with a recent public survey finding that over one-fifth (22%) of respondents from the Northern Ireland could not recognise any amongst the four most widely reported symptoms of the disease - fatigue, bruising, unusual bleeding and repeated infections.
“My symptoms started with migraines, a first for me. These were terrifying as the sight loss comes first. I then kept getting recurring chest infections, despite having antibiotics and chest x-rays, and felt fatigued, which I put down to working full time, as we all do,” Jayne said.
“Thankfully, I had a very good GP who had noticed that with every blood test I had over a period of years my platelet count was continually rising, so he said he would refer me to haematology to see what they thought.
“I heard back from the hospital quite quickly and had my first appointment, which I have to say does take a long time – I was there for over four hours. After this I had to wait six weeks until my next appointment and results.
“I didn’t expect to hear anything worrying. But then the consultant delivered the results. I looked round at my husband, who reached across and put his hand on my knee, and I could see the shock in his face.
“He then starting printing off information on the condition on Macmillan headed paper which freaked both me and my husband out, but he told us not to be alarmed by it.
“My husband and I came away from that appointment in a trance. We drove somewhere for lunch, but I don’t remember much about it. We talked and I made a few decisions about who and how I was going to tell people.
“I have a very bad family history: my mum died at 56 with breast cancer, when I was 16; my dad died at 65 with bladder cancer, when I was 20; my brother died at 49 with leukaemia and I had a sister who died at 17 with cardiomyopathy, when I was 7, so my poor sister was having to go through yet another family diagnosis.
“I told the rest of the family in January, and although upset, they were great and very supportive. I continued to work but then the whole thing hit me like a ton of bricks and I ended up off work for six months.”
Jayne added the pandemic made life living with the illness a lot more difficult, and says she remains vulnerable despite getting her Covid-19 jabs.
"At the minute things are very up in the air for anyone with blood cancer, as although I’ve had my two jabs, we don’t know if they offer the same protection as for the general population," she added.
"This in turn has caused me to practically shield again as I am nervous to go anywhere with lots of people, especially with the new variants of the virus.
"I’m fortunate that my husband has been working from home since April 2020. His work have been brilliant, and because of my vulnerability they have allowed him to work from home for good.
"I keep my bubble small – only my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren are in my home and we’re very careful.
“I’ve always said with these types of illnesses people assume you’re OK because you’ve showered, washed your hair, painted on a smile but no one, except the people closest to you, see the effort it has taken to do that or see the fatigue, the headaches, the down times.”
READ NEXT:
Family run Co Tyrone grocery store to shut up shop after 70 years
Family’s stress as son remains without school place ahead of new term
Sister's appeal to make brother's milestone birthday extra special
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
