Ellena and Ian's Story
We recently met Ian for a coffee at the RVS café at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, his wife Ellena is coming to the end of a trial at the Hope Cancer Trials Centre and he is in remission having received treatment for prostate cancer at the Osborne Building.
Ian generously donates to HOPE and wanted to share their story with us.
It began for Ellena in early 2022 with breathlessness and the need to climb the stairs on all fours.
The GP surgery quickly arranged a bed, provided her with a letter and sent her to the CDU at Glenfield Hospital.
Ellena spent seven nights in the Glenfield from 20th - 27th April and returned for another eight nights at the start of May. This period was a blur of blood tests, ECGs, scans, x-rays, echocardiograms, fluid drains and a lumber puncture.
The initial diagnosis was non-Hodgkin lymphoma which came as a great shock, Ellena’s mum had passed away from the same condition.
Tests and treatment moved to the Leicester Royal Infirmary where Ellena met her consultant Dr Becky Allchin and registrar Dr Dan Halperin. They confirmed the diagnosis which had reached stage 4, but was treatable.
Ellena was offered the opportunity to participate in a new drug trial at the Hope Cancer Trials Centre. She felt pragmatic about the potential risks involved in trialing new treatment with the attitude that if no one ever took part, there would be no advances…
In any trial there is randomization. A computer selects some participants to take the new drug and others to not. Other than this difference, both sets of patients receive identical treatment and care.
Ellena was not chosen to receive the drug, but she remained within the trial group and this is a key component of Ellena's story. It meant that she always had access to the team at the Hope Cancer Trials Centre who both Ellena and Ian, describe as amazing! Ellena was assigned a nurse, Pam, and they came to know each other very well. The Centre staff were only a phone call away and always ready to help.
Ellena’s treatment was a course of six chemotherapy sessions, three weeks apart. They finished on 21st September 2022.
Due to the side-effects of chemotherapy, Ellena was admitted to the LRI on three occasions due to infections. Ellena and Ian said that the staff at the Hope Cancer Trials Centre went above and beyond on every occasion and at every visit, whether pre-scheduled or not.
In October 2022, Ellena was advised that she was in complete metabolic remission. Nevertheless, as part of the trial, she continued to undergo reviews every three months for the first year after the final session of chemotherapy, and every four months for the next year.
With the trial still ongoing, Ellena will continue to have annual telephone reviews until it is complete.
In February 2023, following years of monitoring his PSA levels (a measure of the amount of a protein produced by the prostate gland in the blood), Ellena and Ian found themselves facing double adversity as Ian was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Fortunately, Ian’s cancer had not spread, and he was given a choice of treatment – either a total prostatectomy, or hormone implants and radiotherapy. He chose the hormone and radiotherapy option. Due to waiting lists, the hormone treatment (4 weeks of tablets, and 12-weekly implants) started nine months before the radiotherapy and by the time he began the therapy his PSA levels had dropped considerably.
He had a few side-effects, however, having observed Ellena’s treatment and helped her respond to her own side-effects, he found hope and strength in her example and the care she received.
Ian is also now in remission, with a low PSA level, and no longer needs the hormone implants. He will just have a PSA blood test, and follow-up phone call, every 6 months.
Due to their amazing treatment in the Osborne Building at the LRI – both in oncology and at the Hope Cancer Trials Centre – Ian decided to volunteer in the outpatient department as a way to give back for the wonderful care both he and Ellena had received. Having firsthand experience of the building, treatment and the staff, he is able to empathise with the visitors he speaks to, direct people and he makes teas and coffees for the wonderful doctors, which frees up time for the hard-working healthcare assistants.
As a volunteer Ian is entitled to be paid a mileage allowance each week for travel and, as thanks for the amazing staff and care Ellena received at the Hope Cancer Trials Centre, he has kindly chosen to donate this to Hope Against Cancer.
Ellena and Ian are now getting back to enjoying retired life and travel.
We are extremely grateful to Ellena and Ian for both sharing their story and their splendid regular donation towards the continuation of life-changing cancer research and trials here in Leicestershire and Rutland.
