The realities of living with AML are explored in the BBC soap, highlighting the significant challenges of the diagnosis.

On June 11, 2026June 23, 2026 By LizbethIn HealthLeave a comment

Getting a diagnosis of cancer at any time can feel overwhelming and isolating. The type of disease, the treatment ahead, and the prognosis all shape how a person processes the news and copes with what comes next. When hairdresser Denise in the BBC soap EastEnders was told she had acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), she immediately struggled to absorb the reality of it. She had quietly sought medical advice for persistent exhaustion, keeping her concerns from her family, and even left a joyful wedding celebration to attend the appointment. Sitting alone in the consultation room, she heard the doctor explain that she had blood cancer. She outlined the realities of living with AML, the significant challenges of the diagnosis, and the rarity and aggressive nature of the disease. As the words settled, Denise was left trying to make sense of a life‑changing moment that no one around her even knew was happening.

The Realities of living with AML

Heading back to her family and friends. None of whom knew where she had been or what the appointment had revealed. She travelled home on the bus in a state of quiet disorientation. The conversation with the clinician replayed in fragments, each phrase surfacing and fading as her mind tried to process the information. Everyday sounds and movements around her felt distant, almost muted, as if she were observing the world from behind glass. The journey became a space where shock, uncertainty, and the first attempts at understanding coexisted. Many people who have received unexpected or life‑altering news will recognise this moment: the return to normal surroundings while carrying something profoundly new and difficult to articulate.

What is AML?

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a cancer of the blood cells. On hearing those words for the first time can feel deeply unsettling. In AML, the body begins to produce abnormal blood cells that don’t behave as they should, disrupting the balance the body relies on to stay well. Because it develops quickly, treatment usually needs to begin soon after diagnosis, leaving little time for individuals to process what is happening.

Although AML can occur at any age, it remains a rare condition. Around 3,100 people in the UK are diagnosed each year, with the highest number of cases seen in older people. For many, the rarity of the disease adds another layer of uncertainty. It is not something most people expect to face or know much about. Coming to terms with the diagnosis often involves navigating both the medical realities and the emotional weight of suddenly stepping into unfamiliar territory.

Symptoms of AML

🩶 Pale or “washed‑out” skin

😓 Persistent tiredness

🌬️ Breathlessness during normal activities

⚖️ Unintentional weight loss

🦠 Frequent or recurring infections

🌡️ High temperature or episodes of feeling hot, cold or shivery

😰 Night sweats

🩸 Unusual or frequent bleeding (gums or nosebleeds)

💜 Easily bruised skin

🔴 Flat red or purple spots on the skin (petechiae)

🦴 Bone or joint pain

🍽️ A feeling of fullness or discomfort in the tummy

🧬 Swollen glands in the neck, armpit or groin (may be tender)

Getting a diagnosis of AML

First,

🩺 GP physical examination Initial assessment when physical signs or symptoms appear.

then go on to get

🧪 Blood tests Full blood count and specialist blood markers to identify abnormal cells.

🦴 Bone marrow biopsy A sample taken from the hip bone to confirm AML and assess cell types.

🧬 Genetic testing Identifies specific gene mutations that guide treatment decisions.

📸 Chest X‑ray Checks for infection or complications affecting the lungs.

and finally

💉 Lumbar puncture Used in selected cases to check if leukaemia cells have entered the central nervous system.

Treatment Plan for AML

Treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is usually delivered in two main stages. Each with a clear purpose and a very different emotional and physical experience for the person going through it.

🧪 Induction therapy This is the first and most intensive stage of treatment. The aim is to destroy as many leukaemia cells as possible in both the blood and bone marrow. As well as managing any symptoms caused by the disease. It can feel overwhelming, as treatment often begins quickly after diagnosis. However, it is a crucial step in bringing the leukaemia under control.
🧬 Consolidation therapy Once induction has reduced the number of leukaemia cells, the second therapy starts. Consolidation aims to prevent the cancer from returning. This stage focuses on eliminating any remaining cells that cannot be seen on tests but could cause relapse in the future. It is a vital part of achieving long‑term remission.

Coming to terms with an AML diagnosis is never straightforward. The treatments are demanding, the uncertainty is heavy, and life can feel profoundly altered for the person affected and everyone close to them. The reality of navigating such a life‑changing condition is harsh and often overwhelming. By bringing this storyline to screen, the BBC helps raise awareness and shines a light on the significant challenges people face when confronted with a diagnosis like this. Challenges that are too often hidden from view, highlighting the realities of living with AML.

Inferior Outcomes

In EastEnders, Denise’s experience carries an added layer of fear and uncertainty because she is a woman of colour. Research has shown that Black patients with AML often have poorer survival outcomes than White patients. A reality that many people are unaware of until they are faced with it themselves. At her appointment, Denise voiced the question that so many Black patients quietly carry: does the colour of my skin make a difference to how I will fare?

It was a moment filled with deep vulnerability. Not only because of the diagnosis itself, but because Denise was confronting the painful reality that health inequalities still exist. For many people of colour, a cancer diagnosis carries an added weight: the knowledge that outcomes are not always equal, and that lived experience and systemic disparities can shape fears in ways others may never have to consider. By allowing this conversation to unfold on screen, the BBC brings an important truth into the open and that for some communities, illness is not just a medical journey but an emotional one shaped by history, inequality, and the need to be heard. Acknowledging this openly helps shine a light on an issue that deserves far greater understanding and attention.

A paper showing inferior outcomes can be read in ScienceDirect

March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

On March 2, 2024March 22, 2025 By LizbethIn Cancer, Health, Uncategorized2 Comments

As the daffodils sway in the wind, dancing together with their beautiful bright heads on strong green stems bring together your thoughts of women’s health and for this month of March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Ovarian Cancer is the sixth most common cancer in women. In the UK there are approximately 21 new cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed every day. Despite survival rates increasing only 35.3% women diagnosed with ovarian cancer survive their disease for ten years or more. Further research and early diagnosis would help improve this survival rate. Early Diagnosis helps with survival rates, many women unfortunately do not know the symptoms, help them help themselves let them know March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

Photo by makefuneoflife.net

Ovarian Cancer Symptoms

Most Common:

Persistent Bloating

Feeling Full

Needing to wee often

Stomach Pain

Other Symptoms:

Unintentional weight loss

Tiredness

Post-menopausal vaginal bleeding

Back pain

Indigegstion

Changes in bowel habit

Pain during sex

Early diagnosis is imortant

Please seek medical advice if you have any of these symptoms or are worried. Speak to your GP. Early diagnosis of ovarian cancer is a game changer. When a person is diagnosed with stage 1, they generally have a 90% chance of surviving five years or more. However if they ignore the symptoms and the cancer is diagnosed at an advanced stage the survival rate is reduced to a staggering 4%. Quite often cancers have spread due to being overlooked or misdiagnosed, when they have metastasised, the cancer becomes more difficult to treat and treatment options become more limited, thus survival rates drastically lower. Hence early diagnosis is important giving the opportunity of providing the best possible care and improving cancer outcomes.

If you are going to read and share one thing this month, please let it be this. Let others know this Mother’s Day Month of March it is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

If you would like to read further you can read at:

Cancer Research UK

Ovarian Cancer Action

Be Bold, Wear Red on Friday 2nd February 2024

On January 17, 2024 By LizbethIn HealthLeave a comment

One thing we all have in common is the muscle sitting in the middle of the chest about the size of a fist that beats whilst pumping blood around our body. Delivering oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the body, helping other organs and muscles function well. It really is a marvellous muscular organ however unfortunately not everyone is born with healthy hearts; congenital heart disease (CHD) affects one in 125 births. Every 3 minutes a person dies in the UK either from a circulatory or a heart condition. Raising awareness and funding for lifesaving research will help improve and save lives. You can help, be bold, wear red on 2nd February 2024.

Support can save lives

February is heart awareness month. Wearing red the first Friday in February will help others take notice. Wear red to work, school, clubs, etc. Have a red themed day/night – just some fun, bake some cakes, a quiz, etc. You can even look online and learn CPR for free on your phone or tablet.

Cardiovascular Disease

Congenital heart disease

Heart attack and angina – coronary heart disease

Inherited heart conditions

Stroke

Vascular dementia

Diabetes

Risk factors

Obesity and generally being overweight

Smoking

High blood pressure

High cholesterol

Poorly managed diabetes

Alcohol – drinking too much

Everyday many people live with life threatening heart conditions through no fault of their own. Facing lifelong physical, emotional and practical challenges of living with congenital heart disease. Your body is precious, including the heart that beats around 100,000 times a day.

Can you smell that?

On July 9, 2023 By LizbethIn Health, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Some of us as at one time or another take our senses for granted: touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste. How would you feel if you were born without or to suddenly lose one of your senses? Can you imagine how it feels when you do not have the power within you to take control of your own senses. To answer the simple question that some asks you, Can you smell that?

A person not having their full senses can affect their well-being. It can take toll on an individual person’s daily life both physically and psychologically.

For whatever reason the loss of smell for some can be extremely difficult to live with. A whole emotional journey that you would never really think of can be difficult for a person in everyday existence. For example living life as a family, that simple chocolate cookies baking in the oven, the wonderful aroma that is floating around the kitchen, have a taste says Mum, loss of sense of smell affects the way food tastes. But they taste it anyway.

The emotional journey goes on, the alteration in taste can lead to malnutrition . Other problems in the kitchen through lack of smell can be highlighted if we didn’t set a timer certainly did not smell it burning — food safety. Whilst we are talking about safety, home saftey needs to be highlighted. Alarms should always be fitted, especially for gas.

A great number of people with clinical severe depression have no sense of smell. 90% of covid patients lost their sense of smell.

A physical and social problem is personal life hygiene. Some people become obsessed. Concerned about the body odour; worry they smell, bath and shower constantly. Don’t leave the house — reclusive. Or they become the exact opposite don’t notice the smell at all and go around with a pungent odour and no- one wants to be near them and they make no friends.

Another problem is social relationships, a person with no sense of smell worries continually about keeping their child safe and looking after their newborn with all their own issues.

Spatial Navigation

A great number of people with the loss of this sense say they feel lost. They don’t feel able to travel or guide within both familiar and new environments. for Example driving to work or finding their way around a new town

Some people with no sense of smell, especially after a brain injury can’t do their job.

On speaking with someone with a loss of sense of smell I was make aware that some folks adapt less well than others in the long term. There are a proportion of people with the loss of the sense hope that it will return, some accept it, others find that balance.

Neurodegenerative Diseases

On speaking to a consultant neurologist, he spoke of when he was in clinic; when speaking to patients with Parkinson’s and asked if they could smell. The answer quite considerably was “now you come to mention it”. He did a research on smell assessments — 165 participants after death, striking finding 17% more likely link with Parkinson’s and smell loss.

There is no firm test to diagnose Parkinson’s, no individual blood test or scan to jump out and say this is it. However we do know that smell loss is an early symptom in a small number of people, therefore smell loss is an important feature.

People diagnosed with intermittent epilepsy also have a worse sense of smell.

So perhaps the next time we complain about that awful smell; it may be the manure in the farm field or wet dog after a long walk in the rain. It is time to be grateful that the ability to acknowledge these powerful aromas and be happy that the answer is YES I can smell that. Because unfortunately some people cannot.

Cancer Research Institute Closure after 22 Years

On July 8, 2023July 9, 2023 By LizbethIn Cancer, Clinical Trials, Health, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The UK is a world class leader in cancer research, since 2001 all the hard work given by all at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) has played a very large part in this. Numerous Clinical Trials and research have taken place and helped save the lives of those affected by cancer. The news of the charity winding down has came as a shock to many; patients and health professionals included. There will be many memories and stories to tell as the news hits of the Cancer Research Institute closure after 22 Years.

The charity grew over its 22-year lifespan, linked up with many partners including Blood Cancer UK, Breast Cancer Now, Prostate Cancer UK, Pancreatic Cancer UK, plus many more. Fabulous work has taken place including trials, research, specialist cancer groups, and networks. All for the greater good of those affected by cancer; working together scientists, researchers, patients, and funders to improve coordination of cancer research throughout the UK and beyond. Improving the lives of millions of people around the world.

Almost 400 000 new cancer cases are diagnosed every year in the UK. Understanding the way to treat the cancer for the best possible outcome is the goal. The NCRI was a partnership providing an area where researchers and those affected by cancer (patients, carers, etc) where they could discuss ideas, talk about research and trials and most importantly improve and save lives.

Prof Lawrence Young, Professor of Molecular Oncology, University of Warwick, said: “This is shocking news that will significantly impact cancer research and the development of new treatments in the UK. This is yet another blow to the UK research community and to the position of the UK as a world leader in cancer research”.

NCRI at its best

The abrupt closure of the NCRI will be a huge void in cancer research. The charity well and truly made its mark, bringing the whole cancer research community together covering the whole UK and beyond. Working to improve the overall quality of life of anyone affected by cancer. Understand the cancers, develop the treatments, lessen the symptoms! For some prostate and breast cancers NCRI came into its own with trials, involving radiotherapy combination treatments resulting in treatment reduction from weeks to days.

There were so many trials and research projects that have helped and will still go on to help so many people. A study showing Children with kidney cancers continue to be diagnosed with larger and more advanced tumours in the UK and Ireland than in other Western European countries, according to research presented at the NCRI Festival

A study by Dr Jonathan Wadsley, a consultant clinical oncologist let us know Patients with low-risk thyroid cancer can receive lower doses of radiation treatment. Thyroid cancer is relatively rare with a diagnosis of 3500 people per year in the UK, there were 434 patients in the trial. Contributing to a good study.

Professor Robert Huddart, Professor of Urological Cancer at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Chair of the NCRI radiotherapy working group (formerly known as CTRad), was saddened to hear the upsetting news. He said:

“The UK has developed the reputation for the delivery of high quality, innovative academic trials that has changed practice and improved the outlook and lives of millions of people around the world. In radiotherapy examples include trials that have introduced advanced technology reducing side effects and improving outcomes, changed prostate and breast treatments from five weeks or more to a few days.”

Professor Nick James, Professor of Prostate and Bladder Cancer Research at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, commented: “This news is astonishing. It could be devastating for people with cancer in this country.”

As a charity partner, Deputy Director of Research Blood Cancer UK, Sarah McDonald comments on the need for the need for clinical trials. Stating they are the route for those living with blood cancer to access treatment.

Sarah commented “It’s sad this long-standing multi-partner collaboration will be winding down. The partnership has had success, helping thousands of people get access to new potentially life-saving treatments” “NCRI has played an important role at Blood Cancer UK. We’re deeply committed to continue collaborating with researchers, patients, charities, and government to ensure the hard work of the NCRI isn’t lost.”

The NCRI have made this decision after much thought and debate. The uncertain economic and research environment has had an impact on the charity; After consulting with stakeholders, it was questionable that NCRI would be able to survive in the long term. Therefore, proving a risk of operational failure. Hence the decision to close.

Fiona Driscoll NCRI Chair stated: “It is with a mix of pride and regret that we write to inform you that, after 22 remarkable years, the NCRI will be winding down. This decision has not been taken lightly and has huge impact on the NCRI staff. We are grateful for their continued support, hard work, and professionalism at such a challenging time.”

This is dark day, especially for anyone affected by cancer. A massive blow for research and clinical trials. Remembering the extremely hard work that has taken place, passing on information is vital so the wonderful work of the NCRI is carried on.

EJY Medical Writing

Tag: dr Elizabeth Johnston-young