Donated money is spent on new equipment, facilities to make treatment more comfortable for both patients and carers and research into methods of managing and monitoring leukaemia and related blood diseases carried out at the hospital.
Poems for ELF
Poet Anthony Wilson was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on Valentine’s Day, 2006. After his successful treatment and remission, Anthony wrote of his experiences and the publication of The Year of Drinking Water, a collection of poems, recounts his battle with the disease. The book is published by the Exeter Leukaemia Fund (ELF) to raise funds for the charity. All proceeds from the book will go to ELF.
As Anthony writes in his introduction: “I looked for the truth about cancer in many different places. Like a good patient I scoured the internet, read up on my disease, and invested in various books. Oddly, none of this really satisfied my craving. The truth about cancer is often found in more unexpected places: a nurse’s joke as she begins to inject you; a tin of brownies left on the doorstep by a friend; the offer of a lift by a neighbour. None of these things seemed to appear in the accounts of cancer I was reading”.
Anthony Wilson was born in 1964. He has published three collections of poetry: How Far From Here Is Home? (Stride, 1996), Nowhere Better Than This (Worple Press, 2002), Full Stretch: Poems 1996-2006 (Worple Press, 2006), and a pamphlet, The Difference (Aldeburgh Poetry Trust, 1999). He has held a number of poetry residencies, including Tate Britain, The Poetry Society, The Poetry Trust and Apples and Snakes Poets. He lives and works in Exeter lecturing at Exeter University's St. Luke's campus.
The Year of Drinking Water is a direct and humane account of what living with cancer and its treatment is like, told with a clarifying insight and wit.
The Year of Drinking Water
At first I didn’t mind.
All those gallons had a point;
even if I “pxxx” all night
I felt I was doing my bit.
I gulp towards my future,
drunk with hope. I raise it to the light
and see myself staring back
bent double, inside out.
To order, cost £5.00 per book please telephone Tracy Milton (01392 493344) or email tracy@exeterleukaemiafund.org.uk. Cheques payable to Exeter Leukaemia Fund (ELF), ‘Diddicott’, 7 Cob Row, Station Road, Broadclyst, Exeter, EX5 3AH or available at the ELF Shops at RD&E Hospital, Honiton, Crediton & Ottery St. Mary.
Leukaemia continues to grow in the South West. ELF supports the work of the Haematology Department at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital and exists to ensure that the best treatment is available to leukaemia patients contributing almost £4 million to patient care, equipment and research since 1987 when the Charity registered with the Charities Commission. October 2007 will see the launch of 20 Years of ELF, a celebratory campaign designed to highlight the achievements over the last 20 years and what has still to be done into the future. The Haematology Centre, for which ELF provided two thirds of the funding (£1.5 million), was officially opened by HRH, The Princess Royal in September 2003. It is recognised as “state of the art” and one of the best in Europe.
For more information please contact the ELF office on (01392) 493344.
Release Date: 15th June 2007.