News
Cancer survivor welcomes new research unit
Darren McMahon was just 22 when he noticed a lump at the side of his neck beside his collarbone.
“I was living in London at the time and I did the typical man thing and didn’t worry about it. I thought it might be a cyst,” he recalls.
It was only when he returned home and the other symptoms suddenly hit him. He had lost a lot of weight, had a loss of appetite and experienced night sweats. It was three months before he finally saw his GP.
After a blood test, he was set for a keyhole biopsy, which proved inconclusive. After a fortnight the whole lump in his neck was removed. It was just before Christmas and he was invited to the oncology unit in Limerick to get the results.
“I had thought it might be glandular fever, I never thought cancer because of my age. But I put two and two together and guessed it was cancer when I got that letter.”
He remembers his parents were both silent on the way home after the diagnosis that he had Stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
“I remarked that these were the worst results since my Leaving Cert and we laughed. We all kept up good spirits after that.”
He had his first chemotherapy session on Christmas Eve 2010. Initially he managed the gruelling regime of drugs fine but then the chronic fatigue set in and he lost his hair and his eyebrows.
“That was tough because that’s when you start to look sick. I had 17 tumours in my chest and neck. I was told it would take eight months for the chemotherapy and then I had a CT full body scan in St James in Dublin and they could see how well I was reacting to the chemo so I finished two months early.”
After studying in Athlone and Cork as a graphic designer, the native of Ennis now lives and interns in Galway city centre. In remission since 2011, next May will be his five-year clear mark, which will mean his regular hospital appointments will move to yearly checkups.
Darren is the kind of patient who would benefit from the new blood cancer research unit which was opened by the Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation Damien English yesterday (Wednesday).
The Blood Cancer Network Ireland (BCNI) is a national collaborative cancer research initiative funded by the Irish Cancer Society and Science Foundation Ireland and supported by the pharmaceutical industry.
This new clinical research network based at NUIG’s Lambe Institute for Translational Research on the grounds of University Hospital Galway will see Irish blood cancer patients be among the first in the world to test new drugs and treatments. The network will further knowledge and understanding of blood cancers through a new biobank and registry.
An investment of €2.2m will facilitate research into drugs which may mean that some patients no longer have to undergo punishing chemotherapy
Director of Blood Cancer Network Ireland, Professor of Haematology at NUIG, Michael O’Dwyer said the investment will have many potential benefits.
“It will make Ireland internationally competitive in blood cancer research, increase access to expensive medicines free of charge with consequent savings to the taxpayer, enhance research and development in Ireland, contribute to job creation, and most importantly of all, benefit patients.”
Head of Research at the Irish Cancer Society, Dr Robert O’Connor, said this research would make a real difference in patients’ lives.
As a result of the chemotherapy he underwent, Darren has 60% of his previous lung capacity and a number of small heart problems.
“This new centre will make the whole process less daunting. A lot of people think cancer is a death sentence but there are so many new treatments out there.”
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
