On the evening of Saturday 10 October, I am taking part in Light the Night because blood cancer has touched my life. Funds raised through this special event provide families facing blood cancer with the care needed to make it through every scary, uncertain moment that follows a diagnosis. I was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) in 2004 as a result of a routine blood test. Although I became fatigued sometimes and had some mild illness, I was able continue to life my life until 2009. The CLL had progressed and I needed to undergo treatment. In all I have received three courses of Chemotherapy over the course of several years. Each round lasted roughly six months in duration. When I was getting treatment, I felt tired and nauseous a lot of the time. My immune system also dropped dangerously low and I had to be careful as I was extremely susceptible to infection. I ended up in hospital on two occasions with infections. One infection meant that I could not talk or swallow. Luckily, they cleared up with IV antibiotics. The months following my last round of chemo were extremely distressing for me and my family. During this time sudden and severe bouts of vomiting occurred frequently. These attacks happened with little to no warning and affected my everyday activities like shopping, visiting friends , holidays etc. I lost over 20kg in 9 months. Recovery was slow but we got there in the end. During all this time I remained active in the community serving on several local committees and as a local government councilor. I continued growing Iceland Poppies, contract slashing, bailing hay and Fencing. When somebody becomes ill their whole family is affected. and I feel blessed to have my families support, especially my wife Liz. I believe it would have been difficult for me to get through this without such support. We live in a wonderful and caring community, and Liz had no trouble organizing up to 10 people to help plating poppies when needed. There was also help with weeding and picking if I felt unwell. It was not unusual for a load of wood to tun up at our woodshed from a community member. We are forever grateful for this care and support. Support was also forthcoming from the Leukemia Foundation, by way of advice and publications on CLL There are may Australians living with blood cancer, and recently I lost my best mate to it. Research is ongoing and the Leukemia Foundation allocates funds to this cause. Let us give them a hand.. P.S. I am now on a new targeted treatment, thanks to research.. Please help me reach my goal and sponsor me to Light the Night. With Thanks Ron Nelson