When Karen Upton was just three-and-a-half-years-old, her family were told she only had a five per cent chance of surviving Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL). 50 years later and she not only defied the odds, but helps other sick children to do the same.
Upton has spent most of her life in hospitals – first as a patient and now, as a nurse at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW) Operating Theatres for over 30 years.
Diagnosed in 1973, Upton was admitted to the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children (now The CHW) to begin treatment.
“It was pretty daunting. It was a time where there wasn’t anything known about childhood leukaemia at that stage,” she told Parra News.
“Unfortunately the treatment then was pretty barbaric having four years of chemo and four weeks of radiation… I was never given any sedation for any of my procedures.”
Upton received lumbar punctures and had purple lines drawn on her face to mark the area where the radiation treatment was to be administered.
She said when she received the cranial radiation she had pillows packed in around her to stop her from moving.
“As a child, parents weren’t allowed to stay overnight, so you were left on your own, so that was always quite daunting as a three-and-a-half-year-old,” Upton said.
“Thankfully nursing staff always allowed us to do things with them, I do remember being at a nurse’s desk playing on a typewriter.”
Then at 13-years-old, Upton was given the news she and her family had always been dreaming of: she was finally cancer-free.
“It was a pretty big day for both myself and my parents,” she explained.
“My mother promised me that if that day came all I wanted was to get my ears pierced… so two days later I got my ears pierced. A pretty trivial thing for a 13-year-old but I had been waiting all that time [for it].”
After years of interrupted schooling, Upton graduated. When it came to deciding what career to pursue, nursing was the only thing she wanted to do.
“It was just a way of me giving back the care and the support I received as a child,” she said.
“I was just proud and grateful that by being a nurse I would be able to contribute to the medical profession and in particular paediatrics.”
Now a Clinical Nurse Specialist in General Surgery at CHW, 53-year-old Upton is reflecting on being cancer-free for 50 years as she looks after young patients, who are themselves going through cancer treatment.
“When I see a newly diagnosed patient it kind of comes back to [home],” she said.
“I’m in a very privileged situation that I can give people hope and that’s exactly why I decided to take this journey.
“I couldn’t see myself doing anything else, I know I’ve found my place in life and I just wanted to be there to care for the children. Everyday is rewarding.”
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.