Donegal native shares story of ‘learning to live with cancer at a young age’

Joel Messenger (19) from Greencastle has shared his story of navigating treatment and learning to live with cancer on Blood Cancer Awareness Month. 

In November 2024, Joel was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML), a type of blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow, where the body overproduces white blood cells that don’t work properly. 

Since then, “I’ve been navigating treatment and learning to live with cancer at a young age,” he told DonegalLive. “This September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month, and I want to share my experience to raise awareness, offer hope, and encourage others to take symptoms seriously. 

“I hope that by being open, I can spread awareness and make a difference for others facing similar challenges.”

Joel told The Irish Cancer Society he initially lacked energy and was diagnosed with the flu by a general practitioner. Over the next fortnight, he continued to feel unwell and his gums began to bleed.  “I found it strange when I discovered I didn’t have gum disease and my gums were bleeding a lot for no apparent reason.” 

He visited the GP again and had a blood test on November 7. “The day went by and then at 8pm, I got a call from my GP telling me to go to Letterkenny University Hospital immediately.

“They initially thought I had an infection as my white blood cell count (WBC) was over 100,000. They didn’t look for cancer for the first day because only 0.0074% of teenagers and kids are diagnosed with a blood cancer.”

After more tests and a bone marrow biopsy, Joel was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia, which came as a shock at a young age. “I remember the specialist telling me and initially I thought it was some kind of bad joke, because in my head I was only 19; I’m still ‘invincible’ and nothing can hurt me.

“I couldn't hear a word that was coming out of the consultant’s mouth. Once the shock wore off, which took about 24 hours, a lot of emotion came with it and I think I went through every stage of grief within five minutes.”

“Because my cancer is chronic, my treatment will last my lifetime unless I qualify for treatment-free remission (TFR) in around 2 years, but all I have to do is take 5 tablets a day. They were a struggle at the start, but now they have become a part of my routine and I don’t bat an eye at it.

“I take imatinib 400mg once daily, which is a form of TKI [tyrosine kinase inhibitor, a targeted therapy drug]. Although I am in remission, I still need to take them to prevent the cancer from coming back. I consider myself lucky.”

In describing the obstacles faced after being diagnosed with a rare chronic condition, which affects about 60 people in Ireland each year, Joel highlights the importance of having emotional support and understanding.

“The biggest challenge is the isolation, not literally, but I always felt different after my diagnosis, like nobody ever truly understood me, despite their best efforts.“Being withdrawn from sports and feeling like nobody gets you was definitely my hardest challenge because I felt alone, especially being so young, and all your friends are so healthy. It's hard.

“I think just the journey itself is the most life-changing thing that has ever happened to me. My opinions, my mannerisms, my attitude and my general perspective all changed drastically. It matured me so much and to be honest, I am thankful for it. The journey made me a better person to myself and everyone around me.”“My best advice is to surround yourself with people you love, whether that’s one person or a hundred. I’m blessed to have a lot of close family and friends. I spent every day in contact with 10-20 of my closest, whether it was hospital visits or phone calls, it made all the difference.

“It was the best thing I could have done because, when I was at my most anxious, I knew that my friends were only a call away and they could distract me or just let me vent about the situation. They helped me handle the trauma of the diagnosis so well. If anything is to be taken from this, it’s do not go through this alone. Talk, whether it’s to your family, friends or a trained professional.

“As clichéd as it sounds, just keep your head up. I’m a firm believer that your mental state reflects your health.”After spending two weeks in the hospital, Joel began to search online for someone his age that he could relate to. “There are only 7.4 cases in every 100,000 people under 20, so it is really isolating and can put you in a really dark place if you don't have the mental tools to persevere, so I spent a lot of my 14 days in hospital trying to find somebody on social media that I could relate to but I couldn’t find anybody my age.”

Joel began sharing his journey about his health and resilience on Instagram so he could help others who find themselves in the same position. “Since being in remission, I have begun doing all I can via social media to be the person I never had in the hospital. I am using my Instagram as a platform for primarily young people going through cancer to feel seen, like they have someone to relate to and somebody to reassure them that it will be okay.

“I take a lot of time out of my day to reply to 50+ young adults a day, who come to me with questions and even just for a conversation, so from being this person and knowing how many people I help daily, I have learnt to be thankful for my cancer diagnosis, and I hope one day everyone reading this will be able to become thankful too.”