a patient’s perspective – lisa’s story

“Settling my daughter into high school was my highest priority. She’d had a pretty rough time during her primary school years while I was undergoing other treatments so I really wanted to concentrate on helping her settle in before starting any further radical treatments. By going on a clinical trial, it bought me the time I needed to concentrate on her and her needs. My daughter is now in year 8 and happy and so I’m now ready to do my transplant.”

Lisa has Hodgkin lymphoma. Also called Hodgkin disease, it is a cancer of the lymphatic system. Lisa has undergone a range of treatments including chemotherapy (ABVD, Pace bomb) radiation and double radiation before joining an epigenetics clinical trial of the drug Panobinostat in 2013.

Being able to administer the drugs at home has enabled Lisa to lead a relatively normal life. “I go into the hospital once a month for the clinicians to perform tests and gather the various facts and figures they need. This can sometimes be quite tedious, not to mention soul-destroying, but I know it’s all part of the process,” says Lisa.

Now 18 months into the trial, Lisa and her Doctor are seeing positive results. “It’s changed the course of treatment I was expecting to have which is great,” says Lisa. “All I can say to others in my situation is to fight. New things and treatments are always being introduced.”

“I would also like to thank all those involved with funding and running the trial. There are no words, I am very humbled,” Lisa added.