"Blimey, you've had some cowboys in 'ere...": How Philip Meehan’s life was saved by a newborn baby he’s never even met.
“For me, it all started in the Lake District... After a spectacularly-exhausting year working both home and abroad, I decided to go off to Ambleside for a week to recharge my batteries and get away from work (as someone who's been self-employed all their life, a holiday is not something that comes naturally to me!).
However, it wasn't a lot of fun as I spent the whole week out-of-breath and surprised at how tiring every walk seemed to be - something I put down to being a bit fat, forty and far from fit!
When I returned to Sussex the following week, I STILL felt exhausted and went to my GP just so he could confirm that it was because I was ridiculously out-of-condition. However, after a simple blood test, I received a call from him later that day saying I might want to pop into Brighton's Royal Sussex County Hospital for a couple more tests. I got on the train to Brighton, they showed me into a side-room (complete with my own shower and WC!) and I didn't leave that room ONCE for six whole weeks... Further tests had shown that I had contracted Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia with an additional genetic complication known as "Philadelphia Chromosome abnormality" and my only chance of survival was to begin an 8-month programme of chemotherapy immediately. Right there. Right then.
Once the shock of being symptomatic, tested, diagnosed and admitted to hospital all in one day had started to wear off (!) the realisation that I would be living in the hospital for possibly the best part of a year started to kick in. With a lot of people, this would lead to panic and 'cabin-fever' but the haematology nurses at the Royal Sussex make it okay, turning what should be a truly horrendous time into something more than bearable. The chemotherapy regime was tough, but I was kept informed (and entertained!) at every stage of the treatment which, I'm glad to say, went like clockwork.
However, one concern was that it had been decided that although the chemotherapy would eradicate the leukaemia, the possibility of a future relapse was almost a certainty and that a full bone-marrow transplant was my only chance of long-term survival. Unfortunately, I'm an only child, so there was no possibility of a bone-marrow donation from a sibling, and an unrelated 'living' donor could not be found for me. Things weren't looking too good...
I was contacted by King's College Hospital in London about the possibility of a stem-cell transplant from blood taken from a discarded umbilical cord. Although more commonly performed with young children, this process is being used more and more to treat adults, with steadily-increasing degrees of success.
Now, I liked to think of myself as fairly 'clued up' on modern technology and medical practice, but I have to admit I knew NOTHING about this process. When they mentioned "bone marrow transplantation" I pictured something like Keanu Reeves in the film "The Matrix", lying on a hospital bed with dozens of tubes sucking and pumping goo from every limb and, I'm pleased to say, NOTHING could be further from the truth!
Bone-marrow transplantation is a bit of a misnomer as it doesn't really involve (a) bones, (b) marrow or (c) transplantation. It's a simple blood transfusion - just like donating blood, except they take a LOT less from the donor. In the case of cord blood stem cell transplantation, the process is simpler - following a perfectly-normal birth, the discarded umbilical cord is drained of any residual blood and the stem cells present in that blood are collected and processed, ready to be injected into the patient. These leftover stem cells, which are the same ones which 'grew' the baby over the previous nine months then find their way into the patient's bones, look round, think "blimey, you've had some cowboys in 'ere..." and set to work doing what they do best - growing brand new bone marrow from scratch.
In September 2008 I was transferred to King's College Hospital and received my life-saving cord blood transplant. The process was pain-free, took twenty minutes and was performed by two nurses whilst I had a cup of tea, a bowl of ice-cream and watched telly! Simple. Then came the waiting part... and in my case, about a month later, my bone marrow - previously damaged by the leukaemia to the point where it was unable to create healthy blood - started to 'regenerate' and within six weeks I could go home! Job done.
Since last year I have regained my strength and fitness, am off virtually all medication and other than occasional blood tests for monitoring purposes, require no medical procedures. The word "cured" is still not one that'll pass my lips for several years, but my bone-marrow is now operating at 100%, with NO signs of the leukaemia returning.
I find it truly incredible that such a dramatic change in my life was brought about by using 'waste' blood from a normal, everyday, discarded umbilical cord. Along with King's College Hospital and the NHS, the Anthony Nolan Trust is doing exceptional work in this field, which offers hope and a future to a huge number of people, but they still need more people to come forward to be tested as potential life-saving donors.
In my case, I am more-than-living proof that the word "leukaemia" is not the death-sentence it used to be. Not a day goes by without my wondering about the baby who loaned me some of their stem cells - due to the Trust's programme of anonymity I will never know who they are, but I will always be grateful and wish them the same hope for a long life and a healthy future as they gave me.”
