NEED TO KNOW
Jody White recalled his leukemia diagnosis at the age of 17 after experiencing several different symptoms
The British man said doctors suspected he had glandular fever — known as mono in the U.S. — after he reported “muffly” hearing in one of his ears, and he underwent a blood test which revealed his cancer diagnosis
White’s parents told he would only live two weeks without treatment, and he eventually received a bone marrow transplant from his younger sister
A British man whom doctors initially suspected had a mono infection ended up being diagnosed with cancer instead.
Jody White, 44, told the BBC that he was diagnosed with acute undifferentiated leukemia (AUL) at the age of 17 after a series of ailments plagued him in the months prior to his diagnosis.
According to Healthline, AUL is is a very rare type of aggressive leukemia — a type of cancer of the white blood cells.
“I’d have an ear infection and doctors gave me some antibiotics, then I’d come back with something else in a different part of my body,” White recalled to the outlet.
“Concurrently, I was getting these large rashes, which would appear for a few days and then go down again and then appear in other parts of the body,” he added.
What eventually led him to a diagnosis was a particular trouble that he’d been having in one of his ears. He told the BBC that he had “muffly” hearing which prompted doctors to suspect that he had glandular fever — known as mono in the U.S. — a viral infection that causes severe fatigue, high fever, sore throat, and swollen lymph nodes, according to the National Health Service (NHS) in the U.K.
Jody White with his sister Jessie White
Credit: Jessie White
White was sent for a blood test, and within two hours of undergoing the test, he was advised to visit his doctor. He recalled, “The [doctor] looked very ashen and glum, and then he basically just said ‘I’m really sorry, but you’ve got leukemia.’ “
“Everything just fell apart in my head and life as I knew it dissolved. It was a complete shock,” White said of his reaction to receiving the diagnosis.
Jody White as a teen
Credit: Jody White
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From there, White immediately began to receive treatment — something a consultant told his parents he would be unable to survive two weeks without, per the BBC. He began chemotherapy the next day and dealt with weight loss and hair loss.
However, it wasn’t an easy journey, as he developed pneumonia during treatment that left him “struggling to breathe” and was eventually placed in intensive care.
“I was very close to death,” White recalled.
He was able to pull through and went into remission, but doctors informed his parents that his best chance of survival past that point was to receive a bone marrow transplant — something his younger sister, Jessie, 37, had been a match for.
Jessie was 11-years-old at the time and underwent the procedure to help save her brother’s life. The bone marrow from her hips was given to White through an IV in February 2000, according to the BBC.
Jessie White as a child
Credit: Jessie White
The transplant worked out and White was eventually told by a consultant — after a decade of monitoring — that he was “as good as cured.”
“I was incredibly relieved. It was magical and a big moment,” White recalled to the BBC.
“When you think about the odds of Jody getting that particular disease and then for me to have the very specific matching, it helps you to see the world as not a chaotic place,” his sister, Jessie added to the outlet. “I think hope is so important and it’s often so hard to find hope in times like these.”
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