THERE was good news this week from Limerick cervical screening campaigner Vicky Phelan, who says she is beginning to tolerate the debilitating side effects of her cancer drug trial in the USA.
And, in a second boost for her health, she was due to receive the Covid-19 vaccine this week.
The mother-of-two said she feels relieved at getting some protection from the virus, which will allow her to “move around and be a tourist while I’m here on the days that I’m well”
As she headed in to a sixth round of the drugs trial on Tuesday, she said that because of the new drug regime, her condition is improving and she has developed no new tumours.
Ms Phelan came to prominence when she took court action against the HSE and the laboratory that tests Irish smear tests after a positive reading was missed until the disease had reached a terminal stage.
In her most recent social media posts, she reported that the vomiting troubles which had plagued her have abated somewhat and a scan last week showed no forward march in her condition.
She has left her apartment in Bethesda to move over the border from Maryland into Virginia, where she will be based in Oldtown, Alexandria, about a half hour away from the hospital where she is undergoing treatment.
She said doctors on the medical trial have now upped her medication dosage and this will escalate in weeks to come, along with giving her various drugs to combat the sickness which can be a side affect of treating cancer.
She added that while the sickness has eased and she still is quite groggy from the effects of medication, she has not had to be admitted to hospital for fluids, “so maybe my body is finally starting to adjust to this medication.”
She said the new drugs are “the only alternative for the type of sickness that I have … I’ll take that any day over the sickness.”
