‘I was at the hospital as much as I was at home so it felt like I lived there too. To me everything was normal because of how small I was. I thought every child had to go through what I went through.' Lily Walsh-Curley - 12 years old, Cancer Survivor Lily’s mum Jessica shares their story…. 'Lily was born on the 6th September 2009…8 weeks before her due date! Thankfully Lily was a fighter and after 3 weeks in the neonatal unit Lily was allowed home. She needed to go for check up’s until February 2011 to make sure she continued to reach all her milestones at the right times, which she did. I walked out of the hospital with Lily that day in February and said I never want to see another hospital again.
It was just a normal weekend in May 2011 that would turn our world upside down. Lily was a one and a half year old happy, crazy and super energetic little girl, but this particular weekend, Lily was a little under the weather. It seemed to be nothing more than a cold and she just rested on the sofa. The following Monday, I had a totally unrelated appointment with my GP, so I brought Lily along. The doctor checked and she had a high temperature.
As it was so high and she was so small, he thought she may need fluids, so advised me to go straight to the hospital, and we should be home in time for dinner. At the hospital, they took routine bloods and by 4pm that same day, they called us into a room and broke the devastating news. Lily had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. We were put directly into an isolation room. Lily started on steroids straightaway and received two immediate blood transfusions. The next day we went straight to Crumlin, where Lily received a platelet transfusion. The following day Lily needed an operation to fit a hickman line, and the day after that she was to receive her first chemotherapy. Lily is my real-life super hero! I watched my little baby girl’s body go through so much pain, tiredness, weakness and sickness, but somehow from beginning to end, Lily smiled the whole way through it all. Lily’s beautiful, thick red hair fell out very quickly and at ‘day 28’ her blood results were back. The results showed the original plan of treatment was not working as well as they had hoped. This meant she had now become high risk. Her chemo became a lot heavier, but again Lily took it all in her stride and kept on smiling. Lily would now need daily chemo orally, via her hickman line and/or by injection. She would need steroids, blood transfusions and countless platelet transfusions over the best part of three years. Lily needed weekly blood tests, which eventually we were able to do ourselves from home and drop to the hospital every Sunday evening. Lily’s immune system would be broken down as part of all this treatment and therefore she was liable to pick up any bug going around, so was recommended to stay away from school going children as much as possible. On the 4th November 2013 Lily had her last dose of chemo in Crumlin hospital. January 2014 she had her last dose of chemo related steroids. Over the next few years Lily’s check up’s went from every three months, to six months, and now they are yearly. She now lives the life of normal 12-year-old girl and continues to amaze me with her never ending achievements each day. Lily’s dreams in life since she has been very small have been to be an artist and a professional goalkeeper. Lily’s artwork has been on sale in the form of a tote bag for Breakthrough Cancer Research after she was lucky enough to be included in ‘The Shop That Nearly Wasn’t’. She is currently training every day of the week to fulfill her second dream which I have no doubt she will. Lily’s strength and determination from the day she was born never fails to amaze me. I am so lucky for all the research that has been done and the breakthroughs that continue to be made. Without it all I wouldn’t have my beautiful girl here with me today. Thank you!'
March is multiple myeloma awareness month, so what better time to share this news with you. Last year, we turned to wonderful supporters like you for help with a multiple myeloma project. And you responded with such great generosity. The response was strong enough that we were encouraged to take on a new project. As you know, multiple myeloma is the second most common blood cancer here in Ireland. In the past 20 years, we’ve seen it double in frequency. Current treatment strategies include maintenance chemotherapy. That has significantly improved the survival of myeloma patients, but the cancer remains incurable. Most patients who achieve remission eventually see a relapse. This is because a small number of cancer cells remain after treatment. Early detection is the key. That’s why here at Breakthrough Cancer Research we have awarded a Project Grant to a team in CUH, UCC, and Munster Technical University. We hope to increase our ability to find those remaining cancer cells. If we can increase the sensitivity and frequency of blood tests, we can depend on blood testing rather than more traumatic bone marrow sampling.
The Truth Behind Food & Cancer 'No jargon, no nonsense, just straight up, accessible advice from experts without an agenda.' - Elaine Tierney, Cancer Survivor Do you want to know if you should avoid red meat, soya, alcohol, gluten, sugar, and artificial sweeteners? Do new trends like vitamin infusions work? Are special diets and organic foods beneficial in preventing and treating cancer? A recent survey of over 1000 Irish cancer survivors reported more than half (56%) felt confused by nutrition information available in the media and offered by people around them¹. Almost 4 in 10 (37%) were following, or had tried, alternative diets from restricting certain foods to herbal remedies, juicing or detoxes, and 3 in 10 (32%) reported avoiding specific foods like processed meat or dairy¹. In response to the lack of scientific based information available to cancer patients and the general public interested in the link between diet and cancer, and the sometimes-dangerous alternative diets that people experiment with, we teamed up with University College Cork to publish a new booklet ‘The Truth Behind Food and Cancer’ which was released today at the Irish Association for Cancer Research annual conference. Written and compiled by senior cancer/oncology dietitians Dr. Aoife Ryan, UCC, and Clodagh Scannell RD, along with consultant medical oncologist Dr Derek Power and research nutritionist Michelle Hanna BSc, UCC, it provides accurate information on fad diets that have not yet been proven to be safe or effective in the prevention or treatment of cancer. It exposes the most common myths and misconceptions around the links between food and cancer, and offers simple explanations and advice based on medical evidence. Free copies of this booklet can be obtained in local hospitals, cancer support centres, or by contacting us at Breakthrough Cancer Research.
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