Zoe Sanke
Age: 35
Location: Shropshire, UK
Diagnosis: High Grade Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Hi I'm Zoe. I'm 35-years-old, live in Shropshire and am a mother of 3 to a 14-year-old, an 11-year-old and a 3-year-old.
I was diagnosed in May 2018 with high grade Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, detected as intraocular in both of my eyes. I honestly was broken when I was told and my first thought was that I wouldn’t be here to see my children grow up.
I was given a 30-40% survival rate and I felt like my world was caving in.
After attending my brothers wedding in Spain and trying my best to have a nice few days and forget about it, I started a very intense chemotherapy called 'The Matrix' and although it was tough I got through it with only a few infections and one severe lung infection. I had to have my chemotherapy as an in-patient and it was hard being away from my children for a week at a time with additional subsequent stays due to infections.
It was hard losing my hair, but I've since gained a big collection of wigs and headscarves. The physical side of it hit me hard; the fluid and drugs made me gain a lot of weight and as a former anorexic this was really hard to look in the mirror and not even recognise the person looking back at you. My eyebrows and eyelashes fell out and I just felt like I was slowly losing 'me', but post-chemotherapy everything has started to get easier.
I’ve just had my stem cell transplant and my last two MRI's have shown I am in complete remission.
One piece of advice:
Keep going guys. It’s tough, but you are certainly tougher! I found that doing charity work has helped me to take something positive out of a bad situation.
Instagram: allaboutezra_andthecword
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