There’s No Way I’m Done Yet

Jenna Ostrowski – There’s No Way I’m Done Yet

In the latest episode of Cure Leukaemia’s Let’s Talk Blood Cancer: The Patients Podcast, sponsored by HCR Law, host Adam Joyce sits down with Jenna Ostrowski to share the story of her battle with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) after a visit to the dentist, after suffering with bleeding gums on holiday.

Jenna’s Symptoms

In 2017, Jenna was 33, building her career in corporate law and looking forward to a trip to Bali. In the months leading up to the holiday, however, she experienced a range of unexplained symptoms, resulting in more than 10 GP visits in just three months.

Debilitating headaches, bleeding gums, bruising and extreme fatigue led her to seek medical advice repeatedly, but she was reassured each time.

Whilst in Bali, Jenna’s gums continued to bleed, a symptom she attributed to not using her usual electric toothbrush. On her return to the UK, Jenna booked to see her dentist as the bleeding had not subsided.

Jenna’s dentist said she needed a blood test, “I could tell the fear in his eyes” that it was bad news. “I found out subsequently he had seen in a few patients in the same position”.

But “I had no idea it was the C word until the next day”.

Jenna went for a blood test the next day at 8:30 am, and by midday, she had received a call from the doctor saying her results were abnormal. Having recently lost her Uncle Eddie to blood cancer, Jenna feared the worst.

Jenna immediately left her office in Birmingham and drove straight to Coventry to her Aunt’s house. She told her aunt, “I think I’ve got what Uncle Eddie had, my blood tests are abnormal, I think I’ve got blood cancer”.

Jenna’s Treatment

That evening, whilst hosting a busy house before a wedding the following day, Jenna received another call from her doctor. “Can you get to the hospital?” At this time, her partner, Matt’s friends accompanied Jenna to the Queen Elizabeth (QE) Hospital, where she stayed for 7 months.

After undergoing more blood tests at the QE, Jenna was told she had Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). After hearing the news, Jenna rang Matt, who rushed to the QE to be by her side. It was then that Jenna began to tell her other family members, to which she remembers the “absolute fear on their faces, from hearing the C word”.

Having been given around 12 hours to decide if undergoing chemotherapy or being part of a randomised drug trial would be Jenna’s wish. She and Matt stayed up looking at all of the research to decide the best option.

Having to consider several different factors which they had not considered yet, they were told the clinical drug would give her a 30% chance of being able to conceive – “we didn’t want kids that young, but it was the realisation that it may no longer be an option”.

Having initially thought she could undergo chemotherapy, but she was “quite far gone in her diagnosis”, they decided the clinical drug was the best option.

“If this is a wonder drug, then I will give it a shot”.

Jenna was consequently put on Mylotarg, a particularly ‘punchy’ drug used to treat AML in younger patients. Jenna attributes her ability to be offered Mylotarg to being treated within the Midlands. “The fact it happened in the Midlands meant I had access to this trial drug, which was not standard practice at the time”.

During her time in the QE, Jenna “didn’t allow herself to become close to any of the other patients” making her stay at the QE more like a prison sentence. For Jenna, she wanted to focus on her diagnosis, “I needed to do this myself”, and feared that if she saw negativity around her, she may not have had the same outcome.

Jenna finished her treatment and went into remission in February 2018. Mylotarg was, in fact, Jenna’s wonder drug.

Post Treatment

Just months later, in June, Jenna took part in Cure Leukaemia’s London 2 Paris cycle ride. Inspired by a talk from CEO James McLaughlin at her workplace, before her diagnosis, she had originally thought of signing up in memory of her uncle Eddie.

After her diagnosis, the challenge took on new meaning. “I told myself during my first round of chemo that I would do it later that year”.

Looking Forward

Since Jenna’s treatment her and Matt have tied the knot, and also welcomed their ‘Miracle Baby’, Orsen, in 2023.

Jenna has also revealed she is pregnant with baby number 2 and has said that “at least one of them will be a haematologist when they grow up”.

Watch Jenna’s podcast episode in full: