Nish's Story
NISH'S STORY
- CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKAEMIA
Nish is a singer and musician. He was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) in 2020.
“I was diagnosed with CML in November 2020. I realised I had not felt right for six months but I did not notice because of a change in all of our lifestyles because of the COVID pandemic.
The doctors said that they thought I had had CML for seven months and that the reason for my loss of appetite was because it had caused my spleen to swell. They also said it was more treatable now because of medical research.
I didn’t go home that night, I was admitted to hospital. My mind was thinking about a holiday I had been hoping to go on and the doctors were so thoughtful about that and said they would try to get me on it. It was not possible in the end, but I really appreciated how they tried.
This initial treatment felt like it was taking a bulldozer to get to the problem. I had a fever at one point and was throwing up; it was so tough. Because of COVID, no one could visit either, and that made things harder. My friends and family were on Whatsapp groups and they were offering so much of their strength to me. I really felt that.”
Nish was discharged in December. His second treatment included a targeted therapy drug called Imatinib, which Cancer Research UK scientists played a part in creating.
“The second treatment I had was Imatinib, and that felt like it was a chisel and a hammer approach, it was far more targeted to the specific area.
I was home but I was shielding heavily and did not really leave my room apart from going to the loo. I ended up still getting COVID, we all did! We had a mix of symptoms but I felt like I actually got off quite lightly in the end but it was such a worrying time and our isolation ended at the start of January.”
Nish is now looking to the future.
“I am on Imatinib now and might have to be on it for the next few years. I am just trying to get back to normal and have got back to my music, I love it. I am a huge football fan, playing and supporting Arsenal too.
I want to raise awareness to show the importance of research and give hope. I was fearing for my life – I was so scared. I had the treatment that I did because of research in the last 10-20 years. I found that research and information from organisations like Cancer Research UK helped me and my family.”
"I want to raise awareness to show the importance of research and give hope... research and information from organisations like Cancer Research UK helped me and my family.” - Nish
Our research brings treatments to people who need them, faster.
Almost 1 in 2 people in the UK will get cancer during their life time.