Mandy Atwal was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia
(a sub-type of AML) in 2003
My name is Mandy. I am not a patient. I am not a statistic. I am a survivor.
Living proof that miracles do happen.
Being a healthy, active 24-year-old with lots of life to live, I would have never
imagined that I would be hit with such a devastating illness. At the time, my
worries in life ranged from small things, such as what colour I was going to
put in my hair, to the biggest thing being school assignment deadlines. My
range of worries was quickly about to change.
On August 29, 2003, my world turned upside down. What I thought to be
the biggest worries in my life soon became insignificant. I was called in to VGH
for further investigation on my abnormal blood results, drawn earlier that day. The
recipe to my diagnosis: start with a mini assessment; add a few more blood tests; throw
in an Ativan and spike it with a dash of biopsy. My final result was leukemia...
