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Hi my name is Sue Lord soon to be Sue Christie, I am 39 with 4 children and a manager of a dairy company, My partner of 4 years John has been my rock through all this.

I was diagnosed with hairy cell leukaemia on 15th May 2002.  I had previously on Christmas eve been at our best friend's boy, Ross's(11 years old) funeral, who died of leukaemia.

My manager's son had also been diagnosed of leukaemia 6 months before and was waiting for a bone transplant and to top it all another manager at work had died with leukaemia 6 months prior to that.

So as I'm sure you can imagine I could not believe it when I was told I had leukaemia also.

I had a lump under my arm so I went and saw a doctor he said it was to do with shaving and gave me antibiotics, it ended.  When the course had finished, it came back, 1 under one arm and 2 under the other. I went back and was put on antibiotics again, they stayed away.  Then we went to Ireland on a golfing holiday and I was so tired and the lumps came back again.  I waited until I got home and went to the doctor again.  This time she wanted to give me 3 weeks of antibiotics.  I said I wanted a blood test as I believed there was
something seriously wrong with me.  She said there was nothing wrong with me but would do the test any way.  That was on the Monday, on the Wednesday, I had a letter through my door, I read it and my legs turned to jelly.  It said that my blood test was abnormal and I had to go to the hospital straight away.  I rang John and we went up there. We had to sit in his waiting room, and at the time it didn't register with me that there were cancer posters all over the walls.  John said, later on, after I was diagnosed, "Did you not notice them."  He did and knew it was bad news, But I just didn't.  I don't know why.

I went in and saw Dr. Gale.  He said that I was ill and would have to do a bone marrow test. I had that on the Thursday and was told on the Friday that I had HCL.   I had never heard of it.  All I knew, was 2 people, I knew, had died of it.   Recently, I was scared.  I felt as if it was a dream it couldn't happen to me.   I didn't want to die.  I have 4 children and I was planning on getting married.

The next year was an experience of inner strength, true friendships, and an appreciation of family and life.  This disease has shown me what is important in life.  I look back now and saw how I wasted life.  Now I enjoy life and most importantly, live for the day.  It's no use worrying about what will happen in 6 months time.  None of us know when we will exit life. So enjoy the moment.  I would like to thank my partner, John, who I love with all my heart and my children who have been fabulous, and our close friends, Jackie and Mark, who
lost there son, Ross, to leukaemia but were still there for us.