IRISH ACTIVIST and patient advocate Vicky Phelan has returned to the United States for a new clinical trial after receiving the news that her tumours have grown.
In January of this year, Vicky travelled to Maryland in the United States to undergo experimental immunotherapy treatment in Maryland, US, in the hopes it will extend her life and give her more time with her family, including her two children Darragh and Amelia.
The clinical trial appeared to be going well, and bore good results for the mother-of-two, however Vicky also suffered some severe side effects including Bells Palsy and extreme nausea.
This summer, Vicky was given the green light to travel home to see her family for the first time in six months, as the Covid-19 pandemic meant they could not visit her in the US-- something the activist admitted she had not expected when she initially left, and which may have influenced her decision to leave.
Home Sweet Home: Vicky Phelan with her family after being reunited at Dublin Airport (Vicky's Tribe / Facebook)But now, amid the heartache of leaving her family again and return to the US to continue the experimental therapy, Vicky had also received some difficult news.
She took to social media where she told her followers that she had received some "bad news" following her latest scan on 6 July: two of her tumours have begun growing again.
She wrote: "Basically, my team are not seeing the results that they would like and think it would be best if I come off my current trial and start on a new (but similar) trial which has just started enrolling patients on it this week.
"And so, following a LOT of thinking over the past month I decided after yesterday's meeting and results from my last scan which showed growth in 2 of my tumours, that I would move to this new clinical trial and give it a shot."
Vicky will undergo a series of scans and tests before starting on the new regime, with treatment with three drugs every two weeks, and promised to update followers with a video next week.
She admitted she was "very emotional at the moment" and "did not want to come back".
"I spent the first two days this week crying every time I thought of my kids and I found it so difficult trying to hold it together when I spoke to them on FaceTime", she said, admitting she "almost booked a flight home".
"I am feeling less homesick and less teary today. It was so much harder coming back this time than when I came over in January.
For now, Vicky will "just take it one day at a time" as she continues her treatment to prolong her life and asked her followers to "bear with me".
"Thank you all for your wonderful support, as always."
Vicky, who is based in Limerick, is fighting terminal cervical cancer after receiving a false negative smear test in 2014, a scandal which affected at least 221 other women.
The activist took the US laboratory that carried out the inaccurate smears to court, and in 2018, she was awarded a €2.5m settlement by Ireland’s High Court. She has devoted her life to raising awareness and seeking justice for the other women and families affected by the CervicalCheck scandal.
You can follow Vicky's journey on her Facebook page here.
