Patient makes 'life or death' video diary

In a hospital isolation chamber, a 25-year-old journalist with leukaemia has started a video diary to chart his journey.

Adrian Sudbury, faces an operation which 30 per cent do not survive, but wearing a beanie cap he appeared both optimistic and resilient.

Mr Sudbury became seriously ill in November 2006 and was told by doctors he would not have survived more than a few weeks if he hadn't driven himself to hospital.

"The early days were overwhelming," he wrote in an accompanying blog.

"I was a fit and healthy 25-year-old, who doesn't smoke, has no history of cancer in the family and has a job I like. It was hard to understand why all this was happening."

After many chemotherapy cycles and long stays at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, Adrian was told a risky bone marrow transplant was the only option left.

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In his latest blog entry Adrian said the radical treatment was throwing up multiple questions.

"How do I talk seriously to my girlfriend about dying much younger than I should?" he asked.

"Do we go for IVF knowing full well that by the time they are ten I could be dead? Should I ditch saving for a pension?"

In his video, Adrian, dressed in jeans and a stripy T-shirt, said the treatment would be difficult but he was looking forward to returning to work and his Sheffield flat.

He also explained to camera how the immune suppressant drugs would hopefully stop his body from attacking the transplanted cells. And he revealed he had already experienced unpleasant side-effects including vomitting.

The treatment will take a couple of weeks, and if successful, Adrian will grow a new immune system and develop a new blood type. However, the procedure will also increase his risk of secondary cancers and is likely to make him infertile.

To read Adrian Sudbury's blog visit http://baldyblog.freshblogs.co.uk/