A WOMAN who was diagnosed with blood cancer when she was in her 20s is urging people to look out for symptoms, as an early diagnosis could save their lives.

Fran Woodcock, 36, from Greater Leys, was diagnosed with an unusual form of chronic myeloid leukaemia in 2015, after experiencing fatigue and dizziness.

Leukaemia is a form of blood cancer that affects people of all ages, with more than 10,000 new patients being diagnosed with it every year in the UK.

Its overall survival rate stands at just over 50 per cent, making the illness one of the deadliest forms of cancer – but Ms Woodstock said that managing to get an early diagnosis was what saved her life.

Ms Woodcock, who works in fundraising communications for the University of Oxford, said: “When I got my diagnosis, it was a huge shock – this type of cancer is usually considered an old person illness and I had no idea of what it was going to be like, and no one expects to be diagnosed with incurable cancer at 29.

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“But that early diagnosis was the reason I am still around and I feel very lucky. Life has changed quite a bit and I’m on chemotherapy for life – with tablets which I take daily.

“I thought I could go back to what life was like before the diagnosis.

“When I realised it wasn’t possible, I decided to have a change in attitude: I used to think ‘one day I will travel to that place’ or ‘one day I will go on that adventure’ so I thought, why can’t I do it now? So I travelled to Peru and to the Arctic. 

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“I realised life was not going to go back to what it was – I met other young adults with cancer and realised there was no point trying to get it back the way it was.

“They made me realise that I’m not alone, that there are loads of people going through the same struggles.

“They also taught me that it’s absolutely fine not to be back to normal already, or possibly ever, but that life might eventually be even better.”

She went on to set up two support groups in Oxford to help bring other people to that same realisation: one specifically for people with chronic myeloid leukaemia, and another through Shine Cancer Support, which is aimed at younger adults with any type of cancer.

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She said: “Being around other people that knew what it meant to be the youngest person in the waiting room or the prospect of not having children was what helped me.

“I don’t work full time anymore and that means I have more time to do things I wanted to do for a long time and fundraise for other charities that mean a lot to me.

“I want to urge people to get checked out – it is so important to recognise those symptoms, I thought I just had anaemia and this form of cancer is actually quite rare, even more rare when you are 29.

“The more people know about it, the more people can be saved and being aware that young adults can get cancer too is really important.”

A survey by charities Leukaemia UK and Leukaemia Care found that almost half - 49 per cent - of respondents from the South East could not recognise the four most widely reported symptoms of the disease, which often diagnosed too late.

The two charities are collaborating on a campaign, #SpotLeukaemia, to raise awareness of the symptoms during Blood Cancer Awareness Month.

People who are experiencing symptoms including fatigue, bruising, unusual bleeding and repeated infection are being strongly urged by the charities to contact their GPs.

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This story was written by Anna Colivicchi, she joined the team this year and covers health stories for the Oxfordshire papers. 

Get in touch with her by emailing: Anna.colivicchi@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @AnnaColivicchi