In September Master’s student Fran was given the news she was in remission following a stem cell transplant from a donor. This news followed three years of treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma during which she gained a first-class degree.
Studying gave me normality during treatment
I was first diagnosed when I was 21, and studying in Liverpool. I felt a lump on my neck when I was watching TV and asked my mum to feel it.
I was due to see my GP for something else and my mum immediately told me to talk about the lump, she was very on it.
My doctor was open with me and told me there was a chance it could be leukaemia. It was really terrifying, because it had come out of nowhere. Three weeks later I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
My boyfriend, Ben, was away when I was first diagnosed. He was working on the Olympics, and it was really hard because I had to give him the news over the phone.
I started treatment during my final year of university and had six months of chemotherapy.
I went into top gear – I was living in Liverpool, had all my friends there and didn't want to drop out, not see them and restart the year plus move in with people I didn't know. I really wanted to stay and have a sense of normality. It sounds crazy saying it now, but doing all the third-year assignments, exams and dissertation was a release from my treatment. Because lectures were still online, I'd stay in Liverpool for one week and the next week I'd go home to Sheffield for my chemotherapy.
I’d spend the week at home recovering, then go back to Liverpool.
Unfortunately, at the end of chemo the Hodgkin’s lymphoma hadn't all gone so I had immunotherapy and an autologous stem cell transplant in November 2022. To make sure [the lymphoma had all been treated] I had proton beam radiotherapy.
Last Christmas wasn’t great
Last year was a year of scans. The first scan after finishing treatment lit up where I'd had radiotherapy which my team thought could be inflammation. The following scan it had gone; there were a few nodes lit up, but with the treatment process you have all your childhood vaccines again which explained the scan.
I was able to start my Masters, while on immunotherapy, because there were fewer side effects.
By December, my neck was really bulky; this wasn’t a symptom I'd had before so I had a feeling. The scan lit up. Again.
I had a biopsy and asked to have the results after Christmas so I could try to have a nice Christmas. I went away to the Lake District with my boyfriend for New Years but, in the back of both of our minds, was that knowledge results were coming on 2nd January.
I was told that the lymphoma had returned, and I needed a stem cell transplant from a donor. I started immunotherapy later that month and waited for news of a donor.
Initially a 10 out of 10 match was found but, after further testing, it was revealed they weren’t a close enough match. It was worrying because I knew how important a good match was but, about a month later, a better match was found. I knew from following Anthony Nolan that not everybody finds a match, so I felt really thankful.
That ethnicity can affect who finds a match and who doesn’t is something that I've always been really conscious of, especially when I'm trying to raise awareness for people to sign up.
I got into remission in April and was able to have my transplant.
Thankfully, in September, I received the news that I was in remission. It was just before my birthday, so it was the best birthday present ever; there’s no feeling like it!
Why I’m sharing my story to raise awareness
I’ve been sharing my journey on social media to encourage people to be conscious of their own health and to let everyone know about stem cell donation. Everyone has been lovely about my diagnosis and one of the things I hammered home to them is the privilege of their own health: the fact that they are healthy and could help people who aren't so fortunate.
Every time I've done a health update, I've told people not to forget to sign up to the register.
It helps that I had an autologous transplant because I went through like the donation process myself [using an apheresis machine] and I put all of it on my Instagram. I was able to help show what it is exactly by literally taking a picture and showing it. For me it was quite relaxing; I sat there for three or four hours and watched a few films.
A lot of my friends have signed up which is fantastic. I saw a story [Instagram] someone has donated! She said she'd signed up because of me.
I wrote to my donor to let him know I was doing OK
I know that my donor is a German man, and I recently wrote a letter to him.
I had an hour to myself, on the train, to just sit and think. I was writing away on the notes app on my phone and was just sobbing. I think other passengers must have thought ‘is this girl OK?’!
It will be nice to get to know about them and meet with them in the future. But for now I'm sending a letter because if it was me, I'd really want to know how the other person is doing.
How we’re going to enjoy this Christmas and New Year
My sister's getting married at the end of December and that's been something to, look forward to. We can like end the year on something really exciting because a lot of the years that I've been, ill, Christmas has always been a bit of an awkward time.
My scans always seemed to fall at that time. And last Christmas, especially wasn’t great. This Christmas will be different. We’ll be going up to Scotland on Boxing Day ahead of the wedding and we’ll have a double celebration because we’re staying for New Years.
Normal stresses are exciting!
I've still got my Master’s in Health Psychology to complete and I'm applying to grad schemes at the moment. I’m able to think a bit more about the future.
Simply getting into the everyday routine means that we can do things that people our age are doing. It sounds really weird, but having the normal stresses in life, rather than illness, is really exciting!