Take part in Bishop's Stortford Walk of Light for Blood Cancer UK and sign Leukaemia Care's #LeukaemiaLevy petition

Life with Leukaemia: A family's story of navigating the emotional, physical and financial challenges of living with blood cancer, by Amy Atkinson

Since Joel's blood cancer diagnosis, milestone moments really get us thinking.

Joel turned 32 this week and I felt so blessed to be celebrating his birthday as a family. I am grateful for every celebration we get together - there were so many moments when I thought we wouldn't get to celebrate another of Joel's birthdays. Such days really make me reflect on how far Joel has come on his cancer journey.

Ageing is something I no longer dread, but rather something I have learnt to be grateful for and celebrate. After all, time is the most precious thing you can have.

We were able to get together as an extended family and spend time celebrating Joel's birthday properly this year. Despite his chemotherapy dosage being increased, he is feeling fit and healthy at the moment. It is so amazing what the body can endure.

With The Bishop's Stortford Walk of Light fast approaching on Saturday March 25, I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who has been fundraising for this event. The community JustGiving page has nearly hit £2,000 as multiple teams of participants in the sponsored sunset walk have raised an impressive amount before it has even taken place.

Here's what the money we raise for Blood Cancer UK could do:

• £1,000 could help maintain the supportive online community for 10 days, helping people to connect with others going through similar blood cancer experiences and feel they're not alone.
• £1,500 could fund a month's worth of experiments in a standard lab.
• £4,000 could fund the support team to provide emotional and practical support for people affected by blood cancer via its support services for one week.
• £8,000 could fund a month of high-quality, world-class research.

A lot of people have come together in the community to support us in organising what I hope will be a really empowering night for all those whose lives have been affected by the cruelness and challenges of cancer.

I wouldn't have been able to make this happen without the support of friends and family, who are volunteering as marshals on the night, Grange Paddocks Leisure Centre, which is providing hot drinks for the evening walk, and Ravan Graphics, who have designed and made all the signage for the event free of charge. Teamwork really makes the dream work and organising the event has highlighted how many wonderful, community-spirited people we have here in Bishop's Stortford.

I cannot wait to take part in the Walk of Light with all of you who have signed up. There is still time to donate at justgiving.com/campaign/WalkoflightBishopsStortford or sign up for the walk at www.tickettailor.com/events/walkoflightbishopsstortford.

I have been reading a lot about Leukaemia Care's #LeukaemiaLevy campaign. This campaign has come about to combat the financial challenges of life with leukaemia.

What many people outside of the leukaemia community may not understand is that as well as physical and emotional implications that come with blood cancer or other cancers, there are financial ones too. It could be needing time off work for appointments or to recover from ongoing treatments, or increased heating bills and inflated food costs to maintain a healthy diet and environment for recovery.

The sheer loss of wages that life with cancer can cause needs to be addressed by the Government. There is a cost of having cancer, even when you are treated by the NHS.

Leukaemia Care aims to achieve more support and assistance for people in this situation. A fifth of patients are forced to reduce their working hours and 43% have to stop working altogether. More than half of leukaemia patients say their monthly outgoings have increased by more than £250 during the cost-of-living crisis.

If you would like to support the charity's calls for the Government to provide a Hospital Travel Fund to cover the cost of travelling to and from appointments, financial support in the form of discounts to aid with the cost of living and reduced energy bills for patients, then please sign the petition at www.leukaemiacare.org.uk/our-campaigns/leukaemialevy.

Sometimes life with cancer can feel draining and, although we have a stubborn determination to remain positive, it can be hard not to give into our worries and the uncertainty about the future.

Talking openly about our cancer experience has really helped and brought a lot of amazing people into our lives. When you are facing hardships, surrounding yourself with a good support system brings so much joy and strength.

As we are moving into the warmer months - supposedly, although the flurries of snow on the morning school runs lately say otherwise! - we are looking forward to spending some quality time with our daughter Isla during the Easter holidays.

As always, sending love and strength to all those whose lives have been affected by cancer in the community.