A NORTH Wales AM is aiming to return to the Assembly Senedd after doctors said her cancer is in remission.

Clwyd South Labour AM Karen Sinclair, 56, underwent a stem cell transplant at the specialist hospital Christie’s in Manchester, to treat myeloma, which attacks the bone marrow.

Ms Sinclair, married to Michael and a mum-of-two living in Llangollen, announced in May last year she was withdrawing from the Senedd for chemotherapy treatment to battle the disease.

The former Business Minister says the medical assessment she was in remission had been an enormous relief.

“The sun has come out again,” she said.

“I was in isolation in the transplant unit for 23 days. It’s a fantastic unit.”

Now, more than 100 days since the stem cell transplant, the AM and former local councillor is optimistic.

She is more than two inches shorter after the illness caused vertebrae in her spine to collapse.

But her hair was returning after chemotherapy and she was about three stone slimmer.

“I’m feeling so much better, the chemo is clearing out of my system,” she said.

“I’m sure other people who have been down this road will agree, once you know what’s wrong, at least you know what you’re fighting.

“I’m not saying it makes it easier but you can focus on what it is.

“I have got every intention of carrying on as an AM, representing the people of Clwyd South.”

She said staff in her offices in the constituency and Cardiff had continued to handle the workload in her absence.

Ms Sinclair, who was first elected to the Assembly in 1999, hoped to return to Cardiff Bay after the summer recess.

But she was concerned about the spread of swine flu, given the effectiveness of her immune system had been lowered.

She said: “I still have to be careful. I am hugely grateful to the teams that have looked after me at Wrexham Maelor Hospital and at Christie’s, which is a world-class facility.

“Of course you have dark days, certainly at the beginning when you can’t envisage there’s going to be a tomorrow.”

She said she drew strength from a fellow sufferer who contacted her after she announced her illness and who had sent her a e-mails of support and kept in touch.