Mum shocked after sore finger turned out to be rare cancer

Peppie Scobbie was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a rare type of white blood cell cancer, after noticing the pain in her hand.

The 53-year-old, from Larkhall, had felt healthy despite being tired and noticing bruising, but her daughter insisted she go to her GP.

The mum-of-three was then stunned to find out she would be fighting for her life but vowed to stay positive as she “had too much to live for”.

READ MORE: Fundraiser for East Kilbride family after woman found dead in flat

Peppie Scobbie was shocked to find out how ill she was (Image: Peppie Scobbie / SWNS)

Peppie explained: "I was generally fit - but I had started feeling a bit fatigued.

"Then my middle finger on my left hand got infected, and I went to the doctor.

"They took blood and phoned me the next day to tell me I had acute myeloid leukaemia. It was very much a whirlwind from there.

"I felt subdued - I was in shock. I didn’t know what to think – I’d just been told I had a life-threatening illness. I didn’t know whether I was going to survive.

"I did ask if I was going to survive, and the doctor said there was a high chance of survival, but it was down to myself. I told them I’d put my positive head on, because I had too much to live for.”

Peppie began chemotherapy the same week she was diagnosed but quickly developed complications.

She contracted pneumonia, which quickly turned into sepsis, requiring doctors to put her in a three-week long medically induced coma.

She then had to relearn to walk, before going through another two rounds of chemo - until she went into remission just before Christmas in 2017.

READ MORE: Police formed human chain to save drunk woman from River Clyde

Peppie said: "They moved me to high dependency, and then down to ICU because I was that unwell.

"I was placed into an induced coma for about three weeks or so. My family were there most days, because doctors couldn’t give them a definitive answer on whether I’d make it or not.

"Apparently, people in my position who go down the stairs to ICU don’t normally make it back up the stars – but I did."

Peppie Scobbie went into remission around Christmas 2017 (Image: Peppie Scobbie / SWNS)

Despite the gruelling medical treatments Peppie has had to endure, she remains a positive person - thanking her husband, family and friends, and the NHS for keeping her going throughout the last seven years.

She is now working alongside the Leukaemia UK to highlight the importance of their John Goldman Fellowship, which awards funding to researchers studying Leukaemia, in the hopes that future patients can have a better quality of life.

Peppie said: "There were so many things that I used to do, and it took me so long to accept that I can’t do any of them now – but I’ll be able to keep the memories.

"If anyone can do the research and come up with some kind of cure for people like me moving forward, then they won’t have to go through what I’ve been through.

"I’d be ecstatic if it meant someone didn’t have to go through what I’ve been through for the last seven years."