After being given the all clear, Ailsa carried on with life, until a few years later she was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a group of blood disorders that affects the production of normal blood cells in the bone marrow. It occurs as a result of a mutation, or change in one or more of the genes that control the development of blood cells. MDS can lead to more serious conditions, such as leukaemia.
In order to manage her MDS, Ailsa is required to have IV injections each month across a period of seven days. The particular medication she’s given helps bone marrow make healthy white blood cells and platelets. However, this medication has a very short shelf-life of only one to one and a half hours and therefore restricts administration to those who can be near manufacturing sites. For patients, like Ailsa, this meant either travelling long distances outside of Mackay every month, or receiving a series of uncomfortable and inconvenient subcutaneous (under the skin) injections. The introduction of an isolator at the centre, now allows staff to mix such medications on-site, available to patients when required. Ailsa became the first person in the Mackay region to benefit.
“I couldn’t believe it, and I just broke down. But you realise you can’t run away from it so you push through. But the constant travel was becoming a drag and the injections caused uncomfortable welts all over my stomach which made it even more uncomfortable to travel.”
