 2007 was an exciting year for Neeshay, it was her first year at big school and she would be making lots of new friends. The year started off well, she looked forward to going to school each day.
July arrived; once again she was so thrilled to go to school, because it would be her first birthday at big school. Suddenly, a few days later, I noticed that Neeshay was having night sweats and high temps. I took her to the Dr a few times and each time it was said that she had the flu, or she was anaemic. For three months we visited the Dr, who then referred us to a specialist to try and find the source of Neeshay`s weight loss and listless. On 27 September Neeshay was diagnosed with Leukaemia (AML). She was hospitalised immediately, and a bone marrow biopsy was done to determine the severity.
|
|
Read more... [Neeshay’s Story]
|
|
 I was diagnosed with acute Leukemia on 5 Nov 1997. I had 3 7-day chemo therapy courses prior to having a bone-marrow transplant on 13 Aug 1998. During the chemo treatment I met Chris and Tina, Chris and I also shared a room for some time. Tina later with the help of other parents started the Sunflower Fund. I was a fighter from day one and was in charge of the illness and ensured that I did as much research as possible. In this process I searched the internet and with all the information I was ready to take on the challenge.
I was also lucky in the sense that I was treated at a world class facility at Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic under the guidance of the brilliant Prof Peter Jacobs - one of the leaders in the world on bone-marrow transplants. It was he who told me one morning to go and see "Dr Sperm" - meaning that I had to store some of my sperm before they stated the chemo therapy. At that point in time, you don't think about sperm, believe me.
|
|
Read more... [Gawie's Miracle Story]
|
|
 Carey's Courage
In 2007, young, energetic, Carey Boucher was in love and life was good. After developing strange bruises all over her face and body she went to see the dermatologist who performed various biopsies. She was then referred to an oncologist, who eventually broke the devastating news to her. Carey had Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.
Carey's world spun out of control as her family and friends struggled to come to terms with the fact that this was happening to someone they loved. She was almost immediately hospitalised for her first chemo session just before Christmas. There was much relief when she was allowed to spend Christmas at home but just two days later she was admitted again for her second round of chemo.
|
|
Read more... [Carey Boucher]
|
|
“Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act, falls the shadow”- T.S. Elliot
 2008 was a good year for most South-Africans, the Olympic Games, a new soccer coach, and the ever-growing anticipation leading up to the 2010 World Cup. Unfortunately, for one 8 year old boy, this was not the case.
Our family was struck by shocking news this year when our 8 year old son, Adriaan, was diagnosed with Fanconi Anaemia in February. This is a very rare genetic blood disorder that leads to bone marrow failure and makes the body more susceptible to diseases like leukaemia, skin and organ cancer. This is a bitter pill to swallow for anybody, imagine the effect it had on our family of 5.
Before the diagnosis, we lived a very normal suburban life. Adriaan was just a normal boy, playing, riding bike, swimming and enjoying his cricket. He had no prior problems with his health and it was just a routine check-up that led the doctors to this discovery. This really turned our lives around.
|
|
Read more... [Adriaan van den Berg]
|
 Joshua was almost 11 when he was diagnosed with Burkitt's Lymphoma. At first they thought he just had a blocked stomach due to an unhealthy lifestyle, even though he was very active and ate well. When after a stomach flush the blockage was still there, it was thought to be the large intestine overlapping the small intestine. They operated to fix it and the planned minor op turned into a major one when a cricket ball sized tumor was found and had to be removed, and a 10 cm portion of his colon cut out.
The only symptoms that Joshua presented were nausea and a sore stomach on the morning he was taken to hospital. That was 20 July 2008, the day after he watched Manchester United play Kaiser Chiefs at Newlands. Josh and our lives changed drastically from that point on.
|
|
Read more... [Joshua King]
|
|
 Rebecca Stringer was two and a half when she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (12 October 2005). Her condition puzzled doctors and unfortunately she was diagnosed late. She was treated with high risk chemotherapy for six months and was in remission and well on the road to recovery. On 3 July 2007 the doctor told Sarah and Jurgen Stringer that Rebecca had relapsed. The only way for her to be healed was to find a bone marrow stem cell donor and undergo a transplant, urgently.
|
|
Read more... [Rebecca Stringer]
|
 My name is Nicolette Leonard, I am 50 years old and I had a bone marrow stem cell transplant in November 2008 after I was diagnosed with Myelofibrosis in March of 2008. I was very fortunate and blessed that my sister who is just one year younger then me was found to be a match for me. The transplant was done at Groote Schuur in Cape Town and I have been very blessed with a very caring team of doctors and nurses that cared for my entire stay of 7 weeks in the hospital.
Caption for photo: Nicolette in bed, her sister( the donor) to the right next and her mother (who sadly passed away while she was still in hospital).
I am so grateful today to God, my sister and entire family for supporting me and I realise how privileged and blessed I am to have had my sister as my donor. I have come to realise how other people really battle to find a donor and I have therefore made the decision to tell my story far and wide and to encourage people around me, particularly young folk to have themselves tested and placed on the South African Bone Marrow Registry as donors.
|
|
Read more... [Nicolette Leonard]
|
 My story: a stump with a band of iron and brass.
I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia on 17 November 1999. I was forty two years old. Up to then I had hardly ever been ill; I was at first filled with a sense of disbelief, which turned to a sense of shock as the news sunk in. I felt numb. Am I going to die? Am I going to die? The question kept milling through my head.
I eventually came to see my illness as gift, not one I would like to receive again, but one I would always be grateful for because 17 November 1999 was the day I received a promise from God.
I believe there are many pathways to God – mine happens to be through Christianity. One of the first things I put into the suitcase I packed for the hospital on that warm Wednesday afternoon, was my Bible. I hadn’t read for some time. That evening, in my unfamiliar hospital room, after a barrage of tests, after visits from doctors and psychologists, after seeing the confusion in my six year old son’s eyes as he handed me a drawing he made at school and noticing my husband was holding back his tears, when all was quiet, I picked up my Bible. It opened up in chapter four in the book of Daniel.
|
|
Read more... [Margaret Goldsmid]
|
|
|
People 
