An appeal has gone out to find a match for a woman in urgent need of a bone marrow donor.

Sheila's best hope of a match will be from someone with the same ethnicity. 

Sheila of Birmingham of British Pakistani/white heritage was first diagnosed with Nodular Lymphocyte Hodgkins Lymphoma in 1991. Aged just 29 years old and with three young children, a lump in her leg which her GP thought was just a cyst turned out to be cancer.

Sheila had visited her doctor as soon as the lump appeared however it would be another 18 months until she was given an appointment for removal. After 4 weeks of radiotherapy she was thankfully given the all clear, however her fight with cancer had just began.

In 1992 Sheila gave birth to a son, despite being told her previous treatment would leave her infertile. Over the next four years, whilst raising her family she would continue the process of having more lumps removed. They all showed reactive changes but no need for any treatment.

Then in 1996 she was for the second time diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, the cancer was stage 3, this time she would need 6 months of chemotherapy.

An appeal reads, "Sheila never presented ‘typical symptoms’ of Hodgkins Lymphoma. It has always been through discovering the lumps and having them removed that the cancer would be diagnosed, Between 1997-2002 Sheila had a futher two lumps removed and by 2002 she was once again diagnosed with Stage 3 Cancer. This would be her third fight against Hodgkins Lymphompa. With another course of chemotherapy and a transplant using her own stem cells she beat the disease.

"Sheila was now able to start looking forward to the future.

"Over the next 10years Sheila got married and welcomed the first of many grandchildren into the family. In 2013 she visited her GP complaining of joint pain and wondered if it could be arthritis.

"Her GP referred her to haematology and although her consultant initially thought the referral was unnecessary he agreed to carry out a scan. To everyone’s shock the cancer was back and once again Stage 3. The by now routine course of chemotherapy followed and being the fighter that Sheila is, she beat cancer for a fourth time!"

In March this year like many people in 2020 Sheila was advised to shield due to being at high risk of contracting Covid-19.  Unable to be with her friends, children and grandchildren she looked to keep herself occupied by gardening or decorating. In June that changed.

Sheila had developed a fever which included a cough, feeling fatigued as well as experiencing excruciating pain in her legs which meant taking painkillers day and night. In July, having now contacted her GP routine blood tests to be taken. These seem to reveal high iron levels. Sheila was told to return for weekly blood tests and be monitored. By week three she was told ‘everything was off the chart’ and referred back to hematology.

A bone marrow sample and a scan were conducted however Sheila's health rapidly deteriorated, Sheila was admitted and spent 5 days in hospital on antibiotics and receiving multiple blood transfusions, it was that at this point during her stay she was told her bone marrow was failing.

An official diagnosis of MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome) which can led to Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) was made on September 7, 2020.

The appeal reads, "Sheila is now desperately in need of a bone marrow transplant. The treatment that once saved her life has left her fighting an even bigger battle now, relying on the kindness of a stranger for a cure."

Registering as a blood stem cell donor is easy, simply check your eligibility and request your home swab kit. Once you receive the kit, you will need to swab the inside of your cheek, following the instructions on the pack, before sending them back to Delete Blood Cancer. Once they receive your swabs, they are processed in the lab to determine you tissue typing. Your typing is then stored, in an anonymised form, on the global database. This means you can be identified as a match for anyone in the world.

To find out how you could help and find out if you are a match click here