06 Oct 2022

Oliver’s acute lymphoblastic leukaemia story

Oliver, who lives in Baughurst in Hampshire, was fit and active before his leukaemia diagnosis in 2015. He was a regular runner and had been for a run on the morning he went to his doctor.

His only symptom was bruising on his body – one of the four key symptoms of leukaemia which also include bleeding, infections and fatigue. His GP referred him for immediate blood tests and he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) at the age of 50.

Oliver underwent four months of chemotherapy at hospital in Basingstoke and then had a bone marrow transplant in Southampton after being matched with a donor. He came out of hospital on Christmas Eve. He was a drug regime of immune suppressants and other medication, and stayed at home for the next year. During that time his recovery was set back by having a stroke but he was determined to do his physiotherapy and return to fitness. He remains on medication but is now thankfully back to his previously active lifestyle.

Oliver’s daughter, Ellie, said:

“From someone who was incredibly fit, when Dad came home to use on Christmas Eve he couldn’t walk up the stairs. It was a very quick adjustment for our family as it all happened overnight. My dad got a call one night and the next day he was in hospital for six months. The doctors and nurses were amazing, but it was all a bit of a strange experience at the time. For a year afterwards it was very hard of our family – I’ve got four siblings, the youngest of which whom was eight at the time. And Mum and Dad had just started having an extension built on the house. It was chaos. We couldn’t hug him and if we had a cold we had to stay with a friend.”

After his treatment was successful, Oliver left his job as Managing Director of a sofa and bed company and started his own business. He also volunteered as Treasurer of Leukaemia UK from 2018 to 2022 and worked for other charities to publicise the importance of becoming a bone marrow donor.

This year, Ellie, who is in her final year of a business and management degree at Exeter University, ran the London Marathon to raise money for Leukaemia UK. She achieved a fantastic time of 3 hours 26 minutes and raised over £5000 for the charity.

Ellie said, “Since my Dad has had his bone marrow transplant I have run a few events to get people onto the bone marrow data base. We are forever indebted to my dad’s donor. Running the marathon is another way I can fund this valuable work and also hope to raise awareness.

“I have always done a lot of sport, but more like netball and athletics – nothing with this much endurance training. I am really looking forward to the atmosphere, it will be a lot more fun than the long training runs on my own. I hadn’t even really heard of blood cancers before my Dad became ill. Now I want to do all I can to raise awareness about the work of Leukaemia UK and the importance of research.”

Want to read more about others who have been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia? Read Scott’s story about his diagnosis and recovery.

Read more stories from our community.

 

Related posts

One Cancer Voice writes to Sajid Javid ahead of 10-Year Cancer Plan

1 August 2022

One Cancer Voice writes to Sajid Javid ahead of 10-Year Cancer Plan

Today, with over 50 cancer charities, we wrote to the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, Sajid Javid, to set out our expectation for next month’s 10-Year Cancer Plan….

Leukaemia UK launches manifesto to demand better for those affected by leukaemia

13 March 2024

Leukaemia UK launches manifesto to demand better for those affected by leukaemia

Leukaemia UK has today launched its manifesto to demand better for those affected by leukaemia.    The manifesto calls on the next government to save and improve the lives of those…

Leukaemia UK announces John Goldman Fellows for 2022

8 November 2022

Leukaemia UK announces John Goldman Fellows for 2022

Leukaemia UK has awarded their prestigious John Goldman Fellow research grants to four outstanding early-career researchers seeking to advance our understanding of and ability to treat blood cancer. Leukaemia UK…

Can the unique differences between stem cells tell us how well CML treatment will work?

22 May 2023

Can the unique differences between stem cells tell us how well CML treatment will work?

What if we could predict how chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) patients will respond to treatment? Could the unique signatures of CML stem cells hold the key to personalising treatment for…