‘I didn’t know what exhaustion was before going through this’ Karen Walsh on her leukaemia battle

Karen Walsh had just landed her dream job, signed on to build her dream home, and planned an exciting holiday—until a shocking diagnosis changed everything.

Mum-of-two Karen Walsh landed the job of her dreams, signed a contract to build the home she’d always desired and even booked a cruise for her family.

Heartbreakingly everything came crumbling down when she began to feel more exhausted than usual late last year — something she, at first, attributed to low iron from being a vegetarian.

“I had some blood tests done … I went from low iron, being four to 52, so I’d spiked but (the doctor) didn’t know why,” the 55-year-old told The Advertiser.

Her doctor encouraged her to get her blood retested in a month — but Ms Walsh didn’t want to wait that long.

A few days after she tested again, her doctor called her and told her to go to the Royal Adelaide Hospital emergency room straight away.

“They said to pack a bag, I wouldn’t be going home,” the Tungkillo woman said.

There doctors met her, ran a few tests and told her — she had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Karen Walsh (middle right), who was diagnosed with leukaemia, with her sons Aaron (left) and Dylan (right) Walsh and husband Adrian (middle left). Picture: Supplied

Ms Walsh, who was a home care co-ordinator, had four weeks of chemotherapy treatment and doctors were keen for her to undergo a bone-marrow transplant.

But before she could undergo the transplant she had to be in a healthy condition.

“My heart and lung function were not very good … chemo ravishes your body,” she said.

“My lung function was at 50 per cent and they wanted it at 80 per cent to do the transplant.”

Doctors removed fluid from Ms Walsh’s lungs and got her lung function to 86 per cent.

Unfortunately, during this time, they found the leukaemia had returned, which meant transplant was no longer an option.

“I feel like it’s always been one step forward, two steps back,” Ms Walsh said.

“There’s still things I want to do with my life.”

Karen Walsh thought she had low iron from being vegetarian but she was diagnosed with leukaemia. Picture: Supplied

Karen said it’s been a hard process and you have to put your faith in the doctors. Picture: Supplied

Ms Walsh and her husband Adrian had signed the papers to build their dream home the day before Ms Walsh received her diagnosis.

“We had a cruise planned in December and it had to be cancelled,” she said.

“Everything changes so quickly, we just don’t realise how quickly things can change.”

A month before her diagnosis, Ms Walsh landed her dream job, now she’s unable to work.

“It’s hard to process,” she said.

“You put your faith in doctors and hope there’s a positive outcome. They’re not miracle workers. They can only do what they can do with the technology they’ve got.”

Karen had a cruise booked with her family for December 2024 which she had to cancel after receiving her diagnosis. Picture: Supplied

Karen was unable to stand at her nephew’s birthday party she was so exhausted. Picture: Supplied

Prior to her diagnosis Ms Walsh was at her nephew’s birthday party and she stood up to talk to her sister.

“I literally had to sit back down on the ground again because I thought, I can’t stand up, I’m going to collapse,” she said.

“I was exhausted, I could barely function to walk to the car.

“I always thought that exhausted means you’re really tired but that’s not the case, I know what exhausted means now, because when you’ve got leukaemia, that was my first real symptom.”

If you’d like to donate to Ms Walsh, you can here.

Originally published as ‘I didn’t know what exhaustion was before going through this’ Karen Walsh on her leukaemia battle