Every 31 minutes an Australian is diagnosed with a blood cancer, that’s 17,321 Aussies every year. It was 12 months ago on 28th July 2020, at 9.30pm Eliza, my daughter, took me to the Wesley Hospital Emergency Centre in Brisbane with severe abdominal pain and my blood cancer journey began. A CT scan in the emergency centre revealed a mass in my abdomen, which was the cause of the pain around my ribs. A biopsy of the tumour and CT Pet scan on the 31st of July confirmed a significant Diffuse Large B Cell with Follicular Lymphoma tumour larger than a tennis ball wrapped around my stomach and pancreas, with 2 smaller tumours in my abdomen. My Chemo treatment began immediately resulting in 9 cycles of chemo, 1 every 3 weeks. Also related to the tumour, was a large and aggressive ulcer in my stomach, this combined the potential side effects of the chemo, required me to be a Total Parenteral Nutrion (TPN) liquid diet which was administered intravenously for 5 weeks. The chemo I was prescribed was DA R Epoch, which was also administered intravenously over a week, requiring me to admitted to the Wesley for the duration of the treatment. A scan on 22nd Dec 2020 confirmed the tumour had been successfully treated. My initial treatment was finally completed in Feb 2021, however due to the nature of my Lymphoma I will continue to have maintenance treatment every 2 months until March 2023. With my next treatment on the 10th August and another CT Pet scan in late September. I would like to thank my family and friends for their amazing support over the past 12 months and my successful treatment would not have been possible without the incredible staff of the Wesley Hospital oncology wards, in particular Ward 4B, staff of the Icon Cancer Clinic and especially my haematologist Dr Stephen Fanning. Last year my friends generously supported me to raise about $20,000 for the Leukemia Foundations “Light the Night” fundraising event. I am seeking everyone’s support again this year to continue to provide invaluable funds to the Leukemia Foundation to support people with blood cancer who are much less fortunate than me. Sadly 5,600 Australian’s lose their battle with blood cancer every year, and the Leukemia Foundation raises money every year to ensure research is undertaken to reduce the number of people who lose their battle. Thanks in anticipation of your generosity again this year. Shane