Our annual Blood Sweat and Tears of Joy educational event left us all inspired and moved. Every panel member had a unique story to tell. Stories that had us in tears as they relived the moment they heard the words ‘you have a blood cancer’.
Dr Janet Gregory spoke of her lymphoma diagnosis and the complications that followed due to nothing more than bad luck. Her story left us all emotional and inspired as she rebuilds her life. Janet was given only months to live before accessing a new treatment through a clinical trial. Janet has become a grandmother for the first time and is grateful for the extra time her new treatment has given her.
Ms Deborah Sims spoke of her chronic lymphocytic leukaemia diagnosis at the young age of 38. Deborah’s cancer was aggressive and not responding to treatment which sent her down the path of not one, but two clinical trials. Deborah’s last treatment was almost a year ago and she was only one of a handful of people to receive chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) therapy. Deborah is currently in remission and enjoying her children grow.
Barry Du Bois is well known to many of us for his role on Channel 10 The Living Room. Barry entertained us with his story of being diagnosed with plasmacytoma myeloma when he was young, fit and fearless. He never expected to be diagnosed with a blood cancer. His cancer came back in 2017 as multiple myeloma but Barry is still fit and healthy and makes the most of everyday he has with his beautiful twins.
Prof Prince and Dr Fiorenza explained how CAR T-cell therapy works to attack cancer when all else has failed. CAR T-cell therapy has been years in development. It is hoped that with more research the therapy can be expanded to treat more blood cancers with success.
If you missed the event and would like to watch it, please visit our YouTube channel to view it.