A gran is in a race against time after she was diagnosed with a rare bone marrow cancer when she unexpectedly lost 10lbs. Anne Juliff, 69, barely had an appetite and lost weight in just nine months during the pandemic so sought advice from her doctor.
The retired piano teacher was told the blood cancer she’d been diagnosed with 12 years ago had become myelofibrosis - a rare bone marrow cancer. Doctors warned she had 'four years to live' if she didn't find a donor, and more than two years in, she's still without a match.
Anne has turned to charity Anthony Nolan for help - and the charity have trawled their entire database without success. Now Anne is campaigning for more people to join the stem cell donor register.
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Gran-of-three Anne, from Camberwell, south London, said: "I am an upbeat person - if I get bad news it hits me for a couple of days and then I get on with life. It is a scary situation but I haven't given up on getting a donor yet.
"If it doesn't work out, they have done everything they could. The NHS have given me the best treatment possible.
"I won't be left thinking 'if only' I have been very lucky with the treatment I have received so far." Anne was diagnosed with a blood cancer - polycythaemia vera - 12 years ago, but the condition was managed.
But she sought help from Kings Hospital, London, in April 2022 after losing weight and not feeling hungry. A biopsy revealed she had had myelofibrosis - an uncommon type of bone marrow cancer which disrupts the normal production of blood cells.
In August 2022, while Anne was on holiday in Illetas, Mallorca she started to feel ill with fatigue and was unable to move. After months of blood transfusions, Anne was given momelotinib - an anti-cancer medication used for the treatment of myelofibrosis.
She said it changed her life and now she can't feel the effects of her cancer. Anne said: "It can't keep the cancer at bay but it is keeping my haemoglobin levels high."
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She added: "It is easy for me to get on day to day and forget about it." In April 2023, Anne was told she would need a stem cell transplant - where unhealthy cells are replaced with healthy stem cells.
Three months later, in June 2023, Anne was told that a donor had not been found. Her search for a stem cell donor resumed eight months ago - and so far a matching donor has not been found.
Anthony Nolan is a UK charity that works in the areas of leukaemia and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Anne said: "It was three months ago since they last checked for me and there was no donor.
"During the last eight months, in the beginning especially I was hopeful. Now I am on these new drugs I don't think about my cancer often.
"I know that my life expectancy is short. Four years has been mentioned and I have had two years of that. But over time there are new treatments and drugs that come out so I am still hopeful."
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