A young Edinburgh man received a devastating cancer diagnosis after suffering from bleeding gums and noticing strange red freckles on his arms. Graeme Clark started experiencing the unusual symptoms at the end of 2017. Just weeks later, the 29-year-old was given the heartbreaking news he had acute myeloid leukaemia.
Now 34, Graeme has opened up about his terrifying health battle to encourage others with possible cancer symptoms to go to their GP as soon as possible. On the day he received the life-changing diagnosis, Graeme woke up in A&E after injuring his ankle playing football, Edinburgh Live reports.
He already had an appointment with his GP later that day to discuss the freckles, fatigue and bruising he was experiencing, and so was sent home by A&E staff. His doctor carried out blood tests and at 9.30pm that night, Graeme received a call telling him to attend Western General Hospital, where his cancer diagnosis was confirmed.
Graeme, from Leith, said: "When the Western phoned me, they said I needed to go to the oncology ward and I knew what that word meant. My wife and I drove in, preparing ourselves for the news.
"The rash – called a petechial rash – was a result of not having enough platelets in my body to stop even tiny knocks from bruising my skin, because my blood was unable to clot. The doctor told me that you’re meant to have between 150,000 and 400,000 platelets per microliter of blood and I only had 12,000.
"Apart from the symptoms that prompted me to get checked, the worrying thing was I felt largely normal. I’d climbed a Munro the week before and had been on holiday with my in-laws. I now know that leukaemia can be a really rapid cancer, and it literally just crept up on me. Had I not visited the GP that day, I dread to think how many days I had left.
"I was given platelet support that night, a bone marrow biopsy on the Monday morning to confirm the type of blood cancer I had, then chemotherapy started that same night. I had incredible doctors – I remember my consultant immediately spoke with words like cure and I took confidence from that.
"Of course, I have hard memories of my mum running in a panic past my hospital room to find me, days when I felt pretty horrendous from the treatments, and remember being told I’d be off work for a year which was really hard to take in."
Graeme underwent a gruelling round of chemotherapy before he was eventually discharged - just in time to spent Christmas with his family, including wife Nic.
Before leaving hospital, Graeme met with a stem cell nurse who explained that tests on his blood and bone marrow showed that he would likely need a stem cell transplant to cure him. Until a suitable donor was found, he would have to undergo another round of chemotherapy to keep the leukaemia at bay.
After his second round of treatment, results from Graeme’s bone marrow biopsy in the February confirmed that he would need a stem cell transplant. In preparation for the transplant, he went through yet another session of chemotherapy, followed by eight rounds of radiotherapy.
During this time, Graeme's brother Jamie came forward as a potential donor, despite only one in four people finding a match in a family member. Miraculously, tests showed that Jamie was a suitable donor and would be able to help save his brother.
The transplant – which involves replacing bone marrow with healthy cells - took place at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre on 12 April, almost six months after Graeme’s diagnosis. Less than a month later, he had a brand new immune system.
Since the transplant, Graeme has suffered from liver issues caused by the donated stem cells attacking his own cells, which have been managed by immunosuppression medication and steroids for almost two years. His spleen is also no longer functional due to radiotherapy, which he manages with a tablet a day.
This year will see Graeme celebrate the five-year anniversary of his life changing transplant. He and brother Jamie mark the occasion every year with a ‘blood brothers’ day.
Graeme said: "I had six months of intensive treatment, and I would say it was around another six months before I felt physically quite good again. I think you only get past the psychological stuff after the three-to-four-year mark. Now I feel great, and I will feel phenomenal when I get to April and can say I am five years completely clear.
"I’m physically the strongest I’ve ever been, carrying on the discipline I had around exercising throughout my treatment and right now I feel mentally strong. I literally have no health issues, other than that daily pill to deal with the fact I’ve not got a functioning spleen.
"Me and my wife Nic have a ‘can do’ mentality. We went to New York when my treatment was over, and enjoyed some amazing holidays in 2019.
"The one thing I would say we’ve lost is our innocence. I always had it in my head we’d live well into our 80s with no issues. I was 29 when I was diagnosed, so we can’t think like that anymore and I suppose that’s the saddest thing.
"I would love for that not to have been robbed from us. But life is as it was before my diagnosis, we were a strong unit before and if anything it’s made us stronger."
Graeme continued: "I’ll defend the NHS to the hilt. We’re so lucky to have the cancer treatment available to us, and the expertise of everyone from my GP to the consultants meant my leukaemia was diagnosed and swiftly treated.
"My advice to anyone concerned about a possible symptom is to make an appointment with your GP practice immediately. It doesn’t bear thinking about what could have happened if I’d not been diagnosed at that point.
"Go with your gut if you feel something is wrong. Don’t google it or sit and worry about it, put your trust in the professionals. Regretting doing nothing is so not worth it."
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