Youghal Author’s Book Recalls Shared Experiences In Cancer Treatment.
By Christy Parker

THE INTIMATE AND COMMUNAL STORY OF CANCER PATIENTS undergoing day treatments in Cork University Hospital is the topic of Keep Smiling, a touching, educational and, ultimately, entertaining new book by Youghal historian Michael Hackett. The work is based on the author’s encounters and experiences across thrice-weekly visits to the Dunmanway Suite, Cork University Hospital’s haematology unit, for almost two years.

The book was officially launched at Youghal GAA’s headquarters by retired local nurse Agnes O’Sullivan. Youghal Mayor Eoin Coyne was amongst a 200-strong attendance that also included CUH staff and cancer survivors.

Part diary, part documentary and totally uplifting, Keep Smiling comprises 124 pages and 96 photos. Laden with observance and anecdote, it provides a fascinating account of the day-to-day occurrences in a hospital unit as reflected in the lives of those obliged to reside there and those in whose care they are placed. It reminds us of fragile mortality, the unavoidable sadness of life and how swift is its passage. Yet principally, it reveals our extraordinary capacity to find hope, joy, laughter, bravery, tenacity and sharing amidst sadness, loss and frightening uncertainty.

Local recoveries

Amongst many names and faces whose stories are documented are several that will be instantly familiar to readers in the west Waterford region. They include panel Youghal beater Niall Mills from Clashmore and Gerard Trihy from Piltown who runs an agricultural machinery business and supermarket. Niall was diagnosed with cancer 14 years when aged just 13. He has long been in remission now but returns for the hospital once yearly for a check-up. The book recalls his delight when the CUH Christmas party Santa handed him an envelope with £100 within. Gerard’s 18 month battle against multiple myleloma culminated in the successful stem cell treatment that enables him to indulge in “skiing in Austria” for holidays.

Sad endings

The book’s cover portrays a woman in a wedding dress. She is Katrina King Murphy, and she “was a truly wonderful person,” says Michael. Katrina, from England originally, had been fighting leukaemia for over six years. “She was a social worker and after a session of chemotherapy would go straight to work in Liberty Street to help others, recalls Michael. “She always wore a smile and never more than when showing us the photos of her wedding to her boyfriend Frank Murphy in Lanzarote in July 2009. Sadly, she died three months later.”

Also included is an account- written by her family- of the fatal illness borne with courage, dignity and good humour by Mary O’Donoghue, nee Neville of Neville’s Drapery, Youghal. In a story that also compliments the level of care provided at the hospital, we read that Mary, who carried a childhood phobia of hospitals, was content to spend all but her very final days amongst those she came to call here friends amongst those corridors.

An unusual, tragi-comic story concerns Michael’s efforts to contact Sheila, the widow of Jeremiah Corcoran from Newcestown and whose husband’s tale he wished to include. Amazingly, his letter reached another Sheila Corcoran in the same village. She too was a widow, whose husband’s name had also been Jeremiah. Both men had died in CUH within five months of each other! “My letter seeking approval went to the wrong Sheila Corcoran and, thinking I had net him, she sent me a photo of her late husband whom I had never met,” explains Michael. “In the end I included both men in the book.”

The patients featured account for three genres: those who recovered, those still in treatment and those who passed away. Also represented are “the frontline staff at CUH who do such a fantastic a job that attending the Haematology unit can actually be a pleasant experience!” say the author. He hopes his book will encourage those suffering illness will take strength from its contents. “Don’t despair of attaining goals when bad news arrives,” he advises. “There is always hope and much to savour in every day.”

Keep Smiling costs €10 and available from bookshops in Youghal, Piltown and Ardmore, or Michale Hackett at (024) 92630. All proceeds to Research and Development, Leukaemia Section, C.U.H.

YOUGHAL HISTORIAN’S GREATEST STORY

By Christy Parker

A phone call from his doctor on November 27th 2008 began Michael Hackett on the long journey of hospitalisation that would culminate in his book Keep Smiling. He had been “going downhill” for a few years with an undetected condition. Finally a blood test discovered he had a bone marrow condition that inhibited the production of blood platelets, the bodies that that enable the blood to clot. The condition affects only one in five million people and effectively inhibits the production of red blood cells. Aged 64, he was probably one bad cut away from bleeding to death.

A former post master with 50 years’ service behind the counter, Michael had written ten books on his native Youghal. Now the most difficult chapter of his life would be writ as he undertook thrice-weekly trips to Cork for blood and platelet transfusions. “I’d given blood for over 30 years and I got it all back in a year!,” he smiles. Eighteen months later, exhausted, iron amassing in his blood and his future –if any- looking highly uncertain, a Youghal friend Nora May Joyce, gave him a Padre Pio relic. “I was pretty low at the time,” he recalls, “and I prayed.”

New drug

Describing himself as “averagely religious,” Michael remains open minded towards what happened next. “My specialist, Dr. Mary Cahill, referred me to Professor Ted Gordon Smyth, in St. George’s Hospital Tooting, London,” he recalls. “I travelled there at my own expense. Dr. Gordon Smyth introduced me to Romiplostim, a new drug developed by Amgen and not yet then on the market. I agreed to be a guinea pig.”

His treatment started in July 2009 and every Wednesday since, he receives a Romiplostim injection at CUH. His blood is now practically normal, he is “in great form” and suffers no perceptible side effects as he cautiously “takes each day as it comes,” in his recovered state.

During the many hours of treatment at CUH, doctors had advised that he write to while away time.  Last January he returned to the semi-log he had compiled on those with whom he had shared that difficult time. All had at one time shared the same “question mark” of their future, he remembers.

Looking back

As paths crossed on the uncertain journeys, they had coped and helped each other to cope, suppressing and banishing fear, creating order, purpose and humour in the everyday camaraderie and distractions. “You can’t overestimate the power of someone’s smile in those circumstances or the persuasion of positive body language,” Michael comments. He traced survivors and next of kin. He wrote about them and he remembered how, always, they had tried to keep smiling.

Sometimes too he thinks of a neighbour in Ardsallagh, the late Edmond Lenigham. “When I was very low and unable to go for any more than short walks, I would often meet Edmond,” he recalls. “He was always interested in how I was getting on. Then he died of a heart attack four months ago, amidst an active and happy life. He was ten years younger than me. It’s hard to see the logic….,” he wonders.

From where he stands now, Michael readily and unsurprisingly, reflects that his experience taught him “to appreciate every moment of every day.” He strongly advises that the time to do what one years to do is “now, not tomorrow or next week or next year.” Then, even if unwell, “you can still achieve some goals within your parameters,” he advises. “I went to Spain to see my grandchildren a few times, with the help and blessings of my doctors. Whatever you can do to boost your happiness or fulfil a dream, do it.”

Click on image to enlarge

As a new year rolls up its sleeves and thoughts turn towards the 2011 fundraising events, the Emer Casey Foundation continues to make magnificent strides in its tireless efforts to support research into ovarian/uterine cancer, particularly in regard to early detection. Since the last update in August 2010, the Casey family can reveal that the three PhD research students whom it has funded over the past three years have conspired to achieve yet further milestone discoveries.

The three students are Lynda McEvoy (Developing Novel Therapeutic approaches in Chemoresistant Ovarian Cancer Patients), Mairead Murphy (Developing and Validating Diagnostic Serum Based Biomarker Panels in Ovarian Cancer) and Brendan French ( The Isolation, Characterisation and Silencing of Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells.) Through the foundation, they are affiliated to the Dublin-based DISCOVARY consortium, an organisation comprised of several experts across various areas of cancer research.

DISCOVARY comprises gynaecologists, oncologists, pathologists, molecular biologists, bioinformaticians, cell biologists, surface chemists, pharmacologists and nurse specialists. It is led by Professor John O’Leary of the Institute of Molecular Medicine at Trinity College Dublin. Within this framework, the fellowships have focused on (a) protein signatures in early and recurrent ovarian cancer and (b) developing novel chemotherapy suitable for ovarian cancer patients.

The students’ work has been greatly augmented by the acquisition of  Ireland’s first SOLiD System Sequencing machine, purchased two years ago through the foundation’s assistance. The machine, a technological wonder, is of primary importance in the technology of genomic (gene study) analysis, including DNA research and its acquisition has placed the DISCOVARY consortium in the forefront of oncology research worldwide

Recent, important achievements

In the past year, research student Mairead Murphy “has identified a panel of over 600 proteins that can be identified in the blood of ovarian cancer patients,” says Juliette Casey of Kilcoran Road, wife of retired garda Brendan and mother of five girls of whom Emer was the youngest. Additionally, researcher Brendan French “has made a breakthrough on cancer stem cells and their capacity to generate non-stem cells,” she adds. While the technical appreciation of these achievements is complex and arguably difficult for lay people to comprehend and appreciate fully, the medical significance is, assuredly, highly potent and of global significance.

That the consortium links its research with world-leading professors in America’s George Mason University Centre for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine and with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of California, greatly increases the significance of its findings.

Australia success

Elsewhere, Melbourne’s Emer Casey Memorial 10k, which was held on May 23rd, some 12 hours after the Youghal equivalent, raised Aus$23,000. The family event was spearheaded by former Olympian runner Sonia O’Sullivan and, soon to be in its third year, is already firmly placed as a major event in Australia’s sporting and social calendar. The money raised is allotted to the city’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, which is Australia’s public hospital dedicated to cancer treatment, research and education.

Origins

The Emer Casey Foundation was established in honour of 28 year-old Emer Casey, who lost her life to uterine/ovarian cancer in 2006. Emer was known and loved as an exceptionally vibrant girl, who embraced life and left an indelible, appreciative mark on the lives of all who knew her. An extensive, adventurous traveller and an active, dedicated sports fan –particularly towards Cork hurling and Munster rugby- her energy and consideration also saw her participate in many road races of the kind which now carries her name.

Through the foundation established in her name, Emer’s family, friends and work colleagues have transformed tragedy into a campaign to save others from the deadly affliction. These dedicated volunteers fundraise through a variety of events, including three annual road walk/races in Youghal, Melbourne and London. Their cause is considerably assisted by the tireless contributions and efforts of former employers, Dublin-based solicitors Matheson Ormbsy Prentice. Their combined commitment has raised over €500,000 in four years

There are approximately 334 new cases of ovarian/uterine cancer diagnosed in Ireland every year, with an average fatality rate of two-thirds. It is the leading cause of death from gynaecological malignancy in the western world, yet Ireland still has no national risk assessment or genetic screening programme in place. It has been labelled ‘the silent killer’ as the vague symptoms often mean that by the time the cancer is diagnosed, the tumour has spread beyond the ovaries. All those selflessly involved with the Emer Casey Foundation are inspired by the knowledge that a woman’s chances of surviving ovarian cancer increase from 15% to 80% with early diagnosis.

Future direction

The three-year funding agreement for two of the student fellowships has now expired, while €50,000 remains for Brendan French to continue for another year. The foundation retains the option of renewing funding for his research colleagues but is also considering making financial contribution in other areas instead. These basically aspire towards the areas of “psychological support, fertility treatments for patients with cancer and supportive care,” says Juliette. “We are also intent on raising awareness of the disease at home and abroad in the longterm,” she adds. As 2011 settles, the fight to defeat the ‘silent killer’ may diversify, but it shows no sign of diminishing.

By Christy Parker
The Emer Casey Foundation will hold a fundraising Christmas Fair at the Greenbarn Garden and Lifestyle Centre, Killeagh Road, this Saturday (Nov 22nd). Local artisans and crafts people will contribute to a day-long jamboree of flower arranging, cookery demonstrations, storytelling, Santa Clause, face painting and comedy, to name but some attractions.

Greenbarn will “donate 10% of takings to the Foundation, while a raffle and voluntary donations will also seek to raise funds. All proceeds will go to DISCOVARY, a consortium directly engaged in research on the pathogenesis of ovarian/uterine cancer. This consortium is broad-based across several Irish colleges whose specialists work on individual yet linked projects, as well as linking their research with experts in the USA.

Youghal girl Emer succumbed to the disease in 2006, aged just 28. The solicitor with Dublin Dublin-based law firm, Matheson, Ormbsy, Prentice Solicitors, was known as a vivacious, caring girl who loved sport and travel. The youngest of five girls, she is survived by Read more