A nurse who thought she had tonsillitis was handed a devastating diagnosis.
Alex Lawrenson, a nurse working at Whiston Hospital at the time, was taken into hospital when she started coughing up blood thinking she had suspected septic tonsillitis but when she had a blood test the diagnosis was more sinister. The 28-year-old had been working in the haematology ward at Whiston Hospital and automatically dismissed her initial tonsillitis-like symptoms.
She was put on a three day course of antibiotics for the illness but soon found herself getting progressively worse, with her being unable to speak before vomiting blood. She took herself to A&E and before she knew it she was placed in the resuscitation department.
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She was told that she had acute myeloid leukaemia. The now 29-year-old told the ECHO: "The next hour or two were a blur, all I can remember is my fiancé bringing me in a bag and I had to tell him.
"I rang my mum, dad and other family members to tell them the doctors think I have leukaemia and I was hoping that it wasn’t.
"I informed my friends and colleagues of the diagnosis, so they knew what was going on, I remember some of them crying – that was hard. Still to this day two months later I haven’t cried or got emotional."
Alex was then moved from the A&E department at Whiston to the haematology ward where she worked. She added: "Being treated on my own ward with my colleagues around me helped because they were there to help me through the tough times.
"But I think that even being a nurse doesn’t make you invincible. I now have a better understanding of what it actually feels like to be on the receiving end of chemotherapy and the side effects patients actually go through first-hand. And even though I had the knowledge to spot the signs of leukaemia when I was diagnosed, I didn’t spot the signs as the symptoms are so vague.
"It’s a difficult journey but you must be honest with yourself and if you are having a bad day speak to your team because that’s what they are there for to support you. Always remember you are never alone, there is always someone to talk to."
Alex managed to have a stem cell transplant last year thanks to her brother coming forward as a donor. She said: "I had my transplant on 13 May 2021 and my brother was my donor thankfully.
"I've had minimal complications, I had something called an EBV reactivation which can be common in stem cell transplants, this was treated with a chemotherapy-type drug called Rituximab. Post-transplant the results of my bone marrow biopsy have shown that there is no disease present."
Alex’s symptoms of leukaemia were:
- bleeding
- Bruising
- Pain in her back
The most common symptoms of leukaemia are fatigue, bleeding and bruising, repeated infections, fever or night sweats, bone or joint pain and shortness of breath. If you have any of these symptoms, contact your GP and ask for a blood test. To find out more about Leukaemia Care and Leukaemia UK’s campaign for blood cancer awareness month in September, visit https://www.spotleukaemia.org.uk/
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