Maureen Sturrock – Local Patient Support Ambassador – Scotland

I was diagnosed with MDS (del5q) in 2019, on “watch and wait” for 2 years before treatment with EPO followed by Lenalidomide, which was stopped in March 2023 after I developed a TP53 mutation.

I will now receive blood transfusions, the only treatment available at this stage. I am a keen proponent of the six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine and the agency they give me over my own health and fitness.

I joined the MDS Patient Support Group on diagnosis and, impressed by the information and support available, I volunteered to become an ambassador with a view to raising awareness in Scotland. I very much enjoy Zoom support meetings and the generous contributions of those who attend.

I was a medical doctor specialising in forensic psychiatry until I retired in 2007 and worked all over the UK from Orkney to London, finally settling back in Scotland for the last 30 years of my career.

I live with my husband in a village in rural Perthshire and am involved in numerous community activities. We enjoy walking, e biking, and travels in our campervan. I swim all year in local lochs and rivers. We have 2 adult children, one in Edinburgh and the other in South Korea.