Dry July fundraising helps Rockhampton mum Fiona McWhirter

A Rockhampton nurse thought she was just tired from working and looking after her five children, but a blood test uncovered an uncommon cancer.

Fiona McWhirter thought she was just tired when until a blood test found she had Myelodysplasia Syndrome, with the mum-of-five benefiting from Dry July fundraising efforts.

When Fiona McWhirter was feeling fatigued in 2019 she thought it was normal for a mother-of-five who worked in nursing.

But a routine blood test found something more sinister.

Mrs McWhirter was diagnosed with Myelodysplasia Syndrome in 2020, after a blood test in 2019 found her white cell and neutrophil counts were low.

“It (the symptoms) really wasn’t anything I couldn’t put it down to other than being busy, I wasn’t getting anymore bruising than I thought I should, I wasn’t getting sicker... it all just seemed perfectly understandable,” she said.

“It was an incidental find, being in my 40s I just had a blood test and my GP said ‘we need to find out why your white cells, neutrophils and platelets are so low’.

“We did lots of other tests and then I was sent to the haematologist and that’s when I got diagnosed.”

Myelodysplasia Syndrome is a form of blood cancer which isn’t common.

Fiona McWhirter thought she was just tired when until a blood test found she had Myelodysplasia Syndrome, with the mum-of-five benefiting from Dry July fundraising efforts.

The condition means the bone marrow “doesn’t work” and affects the production of blood cells, neutrophil and platelets.

So far Mrs McWhirter’s treatment has included injections to stimulate her white blood cells and neutrophils.

Understandably a cancer diagnosis can be a turbulent time for a family - understanding how to live with it and what things mean, as well as time away from home due to treatment.

But for Mrs McWhirter, the process has been made a lot smoother with the help of her blood cancer support co-ordinator.

The co-ordinator was made possible through the Leukaemia Foundation with funding from efforts during Dry July.

Mrs McWhirter said the co-ordinator specialised in conditions such as Myelodysplasia Syndrome and could answer any questions, explain side effects and talk through procedures.

“Living regionally is a bit of a challenge so if I need to go to Brisbane for something she can co-ordinate things for me and checks in on me quite frequently,” she said.

Fiona McWhirter thought she was just tired when until a blood test found she had Myelodysplasia Syndrome, with the mum-of-five benefiting from Dry July fundraising efforts.

“When they said I had Myelodysplasia Syndrome, I just heard the word ‘syndrome’ because I was at work and I was on the phone and when I got diagnosed because it was still during Covid.

“When they said ‘syndrome’ I thought ‘ok surely that’s treatable’...it took a few weeks for me to realise it was cancer.

“The Leukaemia Foundation got her to call me and I had about 4000 questions and she was able to help me process all of that.”

Mrs McWhirter said Dry July supported a number of different services and foundations which helped cancer patients and their families.

“From someone that’s used that service I’m super grateful and it’s made a massive difference,” she said.

Mrs McWhirter encouraged anyone thinking of participating in Dry July this year to give it a go.

“Even if it’s just $50 you raise, it’s $50 that is helping a family out, it doesn’t matter the amount and it’s only one month,” she said.

For more information about Dry July and how you can get involved visit the website.