Vicky Phelan has returned home to Ireland to receive palliative chemotherapy, after discovering new tumours in her body.
The CervicalCheck campaigner has been undergoing a clinical trial in the US since January, and was about to start proton beam therapy to shrink the tumours in her lower back.
But sadly, Vicky has revealed she’s no longer eligible for the new treatment after doctors discovered more tumours in her neck, and one on her bowel.
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In a heartbreaking update posted on Instagram today, the mum-of-two said: “It’s been a couple of weeks since I posted an update. That’s because since my last update, I have had some bad news…”
“Unfortunately, following a PET scan which my radiation oncologist at Georgetown University Hospital ordered, I have some new tumours. I have two new tumours in my neck but the worrying one is a new tumour on my bowel….”
“This means that I am no longer eligible for proton beam therapy since my tumours are far too extensive, ie I have too much disease in my body for them to zap!”
“And so, the recommendation from the team at Georgetown University Hospital was for me to return home for systemic therapy, ie palliative chemotherapy,” Vicky wrote.
“All of this happened over the space of a few days when decisions had to be made very quickly. With a very heavy heart, I made the decision to return home to Ireland.”
“I returned home earlier this week and am taking the time to reconnect with my kids and to absorb this news before I start down the chemotherapy road.”
Vicky continued: “The ‘good’ news is that I can still have treatment and that this treatment will keep me alive until Christmas at least. The bad news is that the treatment I am about to start on is extremely toxic and will take its toll on my body and my mind.”
“So, I will be taking a break from social media over the next few weeks. I will only post very sporadically.”
“As always, I would like to thank you all so very much for your support, your kindness, your generosity, your prayers and positive messages which continue to lift me and keep me going. THANK YOU ALL ❤️ ❤❤,” she added.
Vicky received a false negative test after she went for a cervical smear test back in 2011.
Three years later, she was diagnosed with cancer, and in January 2017, she was informed that she had months to live.
In April 2018, Vicky was awarded €2.5m in damages in the High Court over the error, and her story led to the CervicalCheck scandal, which currently involves 209 women.
