#SpotTheJoiners #spotleukaemia
Chris & Kate Joiner is raising money for Leukaemia Care
Story
In June 2019 Kate was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) , a fairly rare form of blood cancer that causes the bone marrow to produce too many white blood cells.
Kate had attended the GP and had a blood test for a completely unrelated issue. Needless to say that when she was called into the surgery to be told she had Leukaemia at the age of 37, the life we knew and loved was stopped dead in its tracks.
The prognosis for CML is, like other forms of Leukaemia, very much dependant on how early it is identified. Luckily for us, the disease was still in the "chronic" phase , meaning that the prognosis was as good as could be. Kate commenced treatment on Imatinib, a form of targeted cancer drug known as a TKI that quickly began to control the disease. Thanks to this drug (and other TKI alternatives), it is possible that Kate could have a fairly normal life expectancy. The treatment may have to continue for the rest of her life, but we know that we have been incredibly lucky and things could have been much worse.
There are 6 main symptoms of Leukaemia and we missed all of them. Looking back now, Kate did experience some of the symptoms but we just brushed them off, attributing them to the gripes and stresses of daily life.
Our experience has driven us to undertake 6 physical challenges in 2020, with our main aim to raise awareness of the symptoms of Leukaemia and ensure that others with similar conditions can be as lucky as we have been. We are also raising funds for Leukaemia Care, a charity who's HQ is in Worcester. They raise awareness and provide emotional and financial support to leukaemia patients and their loved ones.
The 6 challenges we are aiming to complete are:
January 2020
Half Marathon walk (Kate) 26th January 2020 - COMPLETED
March 2020
Half Marathon swim - 850 lengths of a standard 25m pool) (Chris)
At Perdiswell Leisure Centre, Worcetser. Sunday 22nd March. POSTPONED
May 2020
Half Marathon ice skate (Kate) on 22nd May
At Ice Quest, Malvern. POSTPONED
July 2020
10K "Rough Runner" (Both)
Saturday 11th July. Packingham Estate, Warwickshire. CANCELLED
September 2020
Worcester City Run Half Marathon (Kate)
Worcester City Run Half Marathon (Kate)
Sunday 6th September 2020
December 2020
100K bike ride (Both)
Dressed as Mr & Mrs Clause! Finishing at the Leukaemia Care HQ in Worcester.
Some of our challenges have been postponed or cancelled due to coronavirus. We will rearrange or substitute these once we have more information!
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