I thought my bruises were from playing netball – I could never have imagined the truth
A KEEN netball player mistook bruises on her body for harmless bumps from the game - when she actually had a deadly disease.
Lynsey Gregory, 38, had just given birth to her daughter Tilly when the strange marks appeared.
"I banged my arm and my leg and the bruising came up immediately - it was all over my arm and very dark on my legs," she explained.
"I thought, ‘I’ve probably done too much tonight’ and left it," she told
A week after the game the bruises showed no signs of getting any better.
It was only when she took her eldest son, Theo, for a routine check-up she decided asked the GP about the bizarre markings
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Lynsey was sent for blood tests following the appointment in January 2019 and returned home while she awaited the results.
In the middle of the night, she received a call from emergency doctors asking her to come in for a blood transfusion straight away.
While she was there, medics - trying to work out what the marks were - asked Lynsey if she had experienced any recent coughs or night sweats, which she kept excusing.
“I said my little boy probably brought a cough into the house from nursery and I’d been having hot sweats because I had to leave the heating on at night because of the baby," she explained.
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Along with the blood transfusion, Lynsey also had a blood marrow test.
The results revealed Lynsey was suffering with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is a rare type of aggressive cancer and the most common to affect children - but can also affect adults.
Around 790 people diagnosed with the condition each year in the UK, according to the NHS.
Symptoms are caused by a lack of healthy blood cells and usually start to appear slowly before rapidly becoming severe.
After 100 long days of chemotherapy, multiple blood transfusions and a stem cell transplant Lynsey's leukaemia was gone.
What are the symptoms of leukaemia?
There are no specific signs or symptoms which would allow for a doctor to make a diagnosis without lab tests.
In all types of leukaemia symptoms are more commonly caused by a lack of normal blood cells than by the presence of abnormal white cells.
As the bone marrow becomes full of leukaemia cells, it is unable to produce the large numbers of normal blood cells which the body needs.
This can lead to:
- Anaemia
- Weakness and tiredness
- More frequent infections
- Fever
- Bleeding and bruising
Source: NHS
During her stay at hospital the mum regularly sent pictures and messages to her young son Theo, now seven, to help him understand what was happening.
The mum has since turned those messages into a children’s book – called ‘Mummy Goes To Hospital’ – helping countless other families with young children who find themselves in similar situations.
So far, the has helped raise thousands for charities and schools.
Following Lynsey’s story, is now urging anyone considering becoming a blood donor to make 2023 the year they save lives.
It comes after the NHS issued it's first ever amber alert on blood stocks shortages in October.
What are the different types of leukaemia?
There are four main types of leukaemia:
Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia (ALL) - A rapidly progressing form of the disease. More common in children.
Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) - Rapidly progressive. More common in adults.
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Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) - Slowly progressing form and more common in adults.
Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) - Progresses slowly and is more common in adults.