Help Poppy fund her Leukaemia treatment

Hi! My name is Poppy. I am a 36-year-old artist and illustrator living in Brighton. I am a daughter, wife, sister and cousin to the most incredible support team of family and friends.

I have always been the first person on the dancefloor, the first to sing at karaoke and the last one up in the morning.

I have recently been diagnosed with Hypoplastic Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (a rare blood cancer) and am looking for financial support to help cover the cost of chemotherapy medication not available to me via the NHS.

My story:

After having two wisdom teeth removed in March 2023, dentists noticed that my blood was not clotting correctly, causing an infection. Despite taking oral antibiotics and painkillers my pain became unbearable. My headaches worsened and I was struggling to speak, hold up my head or open my eyes. After developing a fever, I was admitted to A&E and treated for neutropenic sepsis.

Over the following weeks I received IV antibiotics, fluids and painkillers. I had chest x-rays and CT scans to identify the source of infection. My appendix was found to be inflamed and the surgeon was concerned about operating whilst I was neutropenic. My white blood cell and neutrophil counts were constantly low meaning I was prone to infection and recovery following an operation would be more difficult.

In preparation for my appendectomy I was given injections to stimulate white cell growth. During this time, I was hallucinating, vomiting, scared and confused. I was in and out of consciousness and my family were told that the doctors were doing everything they could.

Following surgery, I was discharged from hospital but returned within days with pneumonia - a lung infection. Over the course of the next few weeks I had further infections and hospital readmissions as doctors tried to understand why my white blood cell and neutrophil counts were not recovering and why the injections to stimulate growth were no longer working.

A bone marrow biopsy finally revealed the underlying cause. I was diagnosed on May 4 2023 at the age of 35. I remember sitting in a hospital bed, my mum and husband looking on in disbelief as the haematologist told us the news that has changed our lives.

How your donation will help:

As my oncologist says: I’m a young lady with old lady AML.

Hypoplastic Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is a rare variant of AML that mainly affects the elderly. I have abnormally few cells in my bone marrow (currently 5%). Intensive chemotherapy treatment (CPX-351) therefore poses a high risk that my bone marrow will not regrow after treatment.

My oncologist has recommended an alternative chemotherapy treatment (Venetoclax Azacitidine) that is less toxic and has similar remission rates to the intensive treatment. We expect that I will need two rounds of induction chemotherapy before I am able to have a stem cell transplant - the cure for AML.

Sadly, this medication is not available via the NHS if you are under 75 so I am asking for your help to cover the cost of this life-saving treatment.

This is my first-ever GoFundMe, so I hope I have included all the information you need to know – feel free to get in touch with any questions.

Thank you for reading

Poppy