“I had a lot of muscle weakness in my legs from
sitting for hours having chemotherapy. This was
compounded by being unwell in bed and having
extended hospital stays. I couldn’t even walk down
the driveway. I also had to rebuild my lungs as I really
had no lung capacity.
“Young Bloods literally got me back on my feet,”
Danica said.
Blood Cancer Support Coordinator for Leukaemia
Foundation, Glenda Thomas, said the Young Bloods
Program looks after people under 25 years of age
with a blood cancer diagnosis. It also helps the
siblings of a young person with a blood cancer
diagnosis as well as the children of an adult with
a blood cancer diagnosis who are struggling.
“It took quite a while for Danica to get her
diagnosis. She was so deconditioned, so weak,
so underweight. I could see a real value for Danica
to use Young Bloods in getting exercise physiology
to build her up again and that’s what we were able
to provide,” said Glenda.
Through Young Bloods Danica was able to have an
exercise physiologist go to her house.
“It was amazing that I was able to have personalised
sessions in the way that best suited me and my
situation,” Danica said.
According to Glenda, Danica’s exercise physiologist
was quite shocked to see how weak and underconditioned
she was.
“We were able to provide Danica with 10 sessions
with her exercise physiologist. These sessions,
they’ve changed her life,” Glenda said.
Danica credits Young Bloods with being able to build
up her strength and lung capacity which helped her
get back to doing normal life activities.
“With the help of my exercise physiologist I was
able to really start to rebuild my life by rebuilding
my muscle strength. I felt like I was able to get back
on my feet and start to lead a normal life.
“I’ve just started running, which is something that
I’ve never been able to properly do, and I’m really
enjoying it. I just feel like I have my overall health
again and it feels really good,” Danica said.
The 20 year-old has a bright future ahead of her.
She’s now a qualified first metaphysical healer
and has started her own business.
“I’ve decided to continue studying complementary
therapies so I can help people who are not only
dealing with cancer but help anyone who needs
help at any stage in their life so they can lead their
best life,” Danica said.