Blood donors saved my life

<p>My name is Rhiannon Nottage and I am 16 years old&period;  On May 7&comma; 2014&comma; when I was 14&comma; I was diagnosed with Acute promyeloid leukaemia &lpar;APML&rpar;&comma; a rare form of leukaemia&period; Unfortunately&comma; my GP missed my diagnosis and I ended up in the emergency department of Wellington Hospital&comma; vomiting blood and bleeding from my eyes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I was immediately hooked up to life-saving plasma&comma; platelets and haemoglobin&comma; and stayed hooked up for two days&period; After that I had platelets and haemoglobin for two weeks until I stabilised&period; I continued to receive platelets and haemoglobin throughout my chemotherapy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Upon diagnosis&comma; my white blood cell count was 13&comma;000&period; It should be five&excl; They had to put a new box on the chart for me and because of this&comma; unfortunately&comma; I needed an extra cycle of intensive chemotherapy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At diagnosis&comma; I had a brain scan to check whether there was bleeding in my brain&period; Then I was transferred to the intensive care unit &lpar;ICU&rpar; where I spent four days before I was stable enough to move to Christchurch Hospital&period; I was in isolation there for five weeks&comma; then I was able to move into the Ronald McDonald House where my mum joined me for six months&period; All this time&comma; my dad and younger sister&comma; 12&comma; were back home in Kapiti&semi; it was really hard on our family&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>From the date I was diagnosed through to the end of my intensive treatment&comma; I received approximately 50 life-saving blood transfusions of plasma&comma; platelets and haemoglobin&period; Some children go through their treatment with one or two transfusions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Without the New Zealand Blood Service&comma; and the wonderful people who donate across the country on a daily basis&comma; I would not be here&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;