08/10/2026
❤️ My AML Journey — Part 2 of 8: “The Prognosis & Critical Care Unit”
My journey through Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) — from diagnosis, CCU and chemotherapy, through to stem-cell transplant and recovery… and now training for the 2027 London Marathon 🏃♂️ and is all done with three main aims of:
🌟raising donations for The Christie Hospital that treated me
🌟raising awareness of what AML is and other blood cancers
🌟becoming a Stem Cell Donor – how easy it is to do & you could help save a life!
Some of the photographs I’ll be sharing are very personal and some of the moments when I looked and felt at my worst.
I welcome you into my world of what I experienced, and hopefully along with donations, could help ultimately save a life. Knowledge is power.
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GOOGLE
Still sat in Wrexham Hospital A&E Department, within minutes of being told I had AML, I was Googling it on my phone and immediately confronted with the facts:
📉The worst survival statistics of the 4 main groups of Leukaemia (CLL, CML, ALL).
📉50% survival over 2 years, dropping to 30% survival over 5 years
It’s a blunt as that.
Battle lines drawn, I knew it’s going to be some fight (and luck) to beat this cancer.
FOC
After the enormity of the situation had sunk in, my overriding feeling was one of “why me?!”.
During the last 15 years I’d kept myself fit and active - around 1hr of exercise every day, avoided all salt and ate a balanced diet.
So I felt that I’d “wasted” all that time & effort…..I could have eaten & drunk what I’d liked! This was just not fair.
And I was angry.
I began to personalise Cancer, and say to it “Well, you’re going to have one BIG fight on your hands with me”.
My mantra was thus set in stone -
F*** O** CANCER FOC
THE CHRISTIE
Crazy how your mind races, but in the same way I use TripAdvisor when selecting a family holiday break or hotel, I then found myself using Google to look at “reviews” of leading AML cancer treatment hospitals.
I was in my “fight” mode and so I was determined to select “the best” and for me it was The Christie that stood out. I told the Drs at Wrexham Hospital that I wanted to go there, and the following day a bed had been found.
I was apprehensive, but also a sense of relief that I was going to The Christie to have access to some of the best treatment within the whole of the UK.
By now, I was on permanent oxygen and yet my oxygen level in my body was still very poor. The pneumonia was getting worse, and the “blasts” within my blood was crowding out the good blood still left in me - hence my weakness and very weak immune system.
CRITICAL CARE UNIT
Looking back on it now, I was deteriorating rapidly as soon as I’d arrived at The Christie.
After only one night on the wards, the medical team were getting very concerned with the various results coming in from the blood tests.
One blood test called CRP measures the level of infection within the body, told them how critical the situation was. Typical ranges for CRP levels were as follows:
A healthy person: 0 - 3
Common cold: 5 - 15
Pneumonia: 50 - 150
Sepsis: over 200
Mine? 307
Things moved fast.
The medical team promptly told me I was being moved to the Critical Care Unit (CCU), and with that I was whisked for a CT scan, then into CCU where I had a Bone Marrow Biopsy, Blood Pressure sensor cut into an artery in my wrist, a PICC line into my upper arm (used to administer antibiotics / chemotherapy / drawing bloods), a catheter up my (….well, you know where) and finally a CPAP mask (pressured oxygen mask that covered my entire face).
Shortly after arriving in CCU, my family came to see me which was lovely and I blissfully said I felt “a bit rough”, but I was still completely unaware of just how bad things were.
What also I didn’t know was that my wife Sarah had been told that the next 48hrs will be critical and there was a 20% chance of death.
And so began my time in the CCU, where I was pumped full with chemotherapy, antibiotics and many other drugs. I lay there, bored & uncomfortable with all the lines sticking out of me, but the care & attention from the professional staff was brilliant who monitored me very closely.
and……
over the next few days, my stats stabilised and improved.
Unbelievably, after the 4th night in CCU, I was discharged and back onto the wards.
Weakened, but alive, my 1st meeting with the one of the consultants on the ward - Dr Bloor, I asked the question that was bothering me.
“Will I live?”
The answer was blunt but factual
“You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t treatable, but it will be a long and tough journey. We will do our best for you”.
The 1st battle was over, and whilst I knew that this was only just the very beginning, I took comfort that I had whipped AML’s ass in this round.
FOC!
NEXT MONTH – PART 3: INTENSIVE CHEMOTHERAPY
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🩸 SO WHAT ACTUALLY IS AML?
AML stands for Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. It’s an aggressive cancer of the blood and bone marrow.
Our bone marrow normally produces the blood cells our bodies need. With AML, abnormal immature blood cells, called “blasts”, multiply rapidly and interfere with the production of healthy blood cells.
AML can develop and progress very quickly, so once it is suspected or diagnosed, things can start moving frighteningly fast.
Warning signs of Leukaemia include: persistent fatigue, frequent infections, easy bruising or bleeding, and unexplained weight loss.
Want to join the fight against Leukaemia? If you are 18yrs – 30yrs, register as a Stem Cell Donor. All it takes is a swab test, and you could become a lifesaver!!
Join at www.anthonynolan.org or www.dkms.org.uk
💙 If you’re able to donate, no matter how big or small, I’d be incredibly grateful. Every donation helps The Christie Charity fund pioneering research, develop better treatments and cancer-beating drugs, and continue providing world-class care to patients and their families.
🔗 Please support my fundraising here:
https://2027tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/john-brookshaw
And if you can’t donate, please consider sharing my story. Raising awareness is a huge part of why I’m doing this.
Thank you for reading this.
John Brookshaw
Owner
The Plassey
