Helen McConnochie has gone through two bouts of leukemia. Photo / David Haxton
Getting a good night’s sleep, or any decent amount of sleep, is something Helen McConnochie desperately wishes for.
She can only get an hour or two of shut-eye before waking again. One word sums it up: debilitating.
The lack of sleep has left her feeling physically and mentally wrecked for a long time.
Adding to her frustration is that she has taken a heavy-duty battering from constant medication.
Helen, 47, has had to deal with two bouts of life-threatening leukaemia as well as side effects.
Fed up with feeling so low most of the time, she’s decided to give the natural remedy route a go.
Her mother Judi McConnochie has set up a Givealittle page called Life-saving Treatment, which seeks to raise $50,000 for hyperbaric oxygen treatment, intravenous vitamin C and other wellness treatments.
And if there was enough for a retreat somewhere, other than Helen’s bedroom, that would be great.
Growing up, Helen was very fit and healthy and became a top sportswoman, especially in netball and athletics.
My main thing, in my whole existence right now, is sleep.
Things were going well as she raised her two sons, but her life changed dramatically at the age of 33.
Helen,who now lives in Raumati Beach, was about to get an operation on both knees but a routine blood test showed she had acute lymphoma leukaemia and only two weeks to live if nothing was done about it.
She underwent months of treatment in Waikato Hospital, as she was living in Tauranga, which led to a successful bone marrow transplant - her brother Phillip was a perfect donor match.
How she got leukaemia was a mystery but probably not helped by a continuing head cold for a year as well as a neck growth.
She recovered well but after 18 months, devastatingly, the leukaemia returned, which led to lots more treatment, this time in Wellington Hospital.
The treatment also featured a new bone marrow transplant from a female from Germany, because the disease had outsmarted the use of Phillip’s bone marrow.
Helen improved again, but during ongoing treatment, which included lessening steroid intake, she got graft-versus-host disease in her mouth, meaning the donor bone marrow was being rejected.
She’s been on a cocktail of medication including steroid use for almost three years to try and get her back on track but it has taken a heavy toll on her body including having to re-learn how to walk again.
“I’m over it big time.
“It’s wrecked me on the outside and on the inside.”
Lack of proper sleep, despite trying sleeping pills and hypnotherapy, was a big issue.
“I haven’t slept for a very long time and it has made me a wreck.
“It’s very depressing.
“I basically lay in bed, all night long, with my eyes closed, but I don’t go to sleep.”
The lack of sleep “makes you feel like you’re going crazy”.
“My main thing, in my whole existence right now, is sleep.
“I need to have sleep – that’s it.
“It’s just insane.”
Tiredness and lack of energy prevent her from doing much during the day; a highlight could be having coffee in a cafe, or when her feet are up to it, going for a short walk.
Helen is trying to see what happens if she doesn’t take so many pills including reducing steroid use, hence the natural approach, which her sister Sarah suggested.
“I need to see, for myself, what it does to my body.”
Judi said Helen was “in survival mode”.
“It threw me for six when I realised things weren’t working so my last ditch effort was to start this Givealittle page.
“I waited patiently for Helen to come to the conclusion, that, after being sick for so long, she could try something natural.
“We’re getting the feeling, that regardless of doing hyperbaric and vitamin C, they just don’t know what to do with Helen.”
She’s had 18 hyperbaric oxygen treatments with the final number anywhere between 40 and 60 treatments.
Helen has been taking natural supplements, which her sister has sourced, and Judi is making sure she is getting “some good nourishing nutrient-dense vegetables”.
“Slowly but surely we’re trying to build her up the natural way.”
Judi, and many others, are proud of how Helen has coped throughout.
“I’ve been saying for years, that even though Helen has had her moments, and wanted to die, she does have an inner strength and does have a bit of a feisty nature.
“I call it her saving grace.”
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