What new chemo unit will mean to cancer patients
A RETIRED teacher has spoken about being a cancer patient for more than a decade and what a new chemotherapy unit will mean for the region.
Jane Jones, who lives in the village of Llanarth, near Aberaeron, is under the care of the team at Bronglais Hospital’s chemotherapy day unit in Aberystwyth.
Here she talks about her diagnosis in 2011 and the care she continues to receive.
Jane said: “My husband Ken and I were in Australia for the wedding of my younger son Rhodri, who lives out there, when I developed a cough.
“Back home, I went to the GP to see if the cough was related to the medication I was taking to improve my bone density.
“Tests revealed an abnormal protein in my blood and I was referred to the haematology department at Bronglais Hospital.
“I was being monitored as the presence of such a protein can lead to cancer of the blood and this is what happened to me, with multiple myeloma being diagnosed in 2011.
“The diagnosis came out of the blue and I wasn’t feeling ill at all.
“I started treatment at the chemotherapy day unit soon after and I can’t praise the staff enough, they were wonderful then and they still are.”
She added: “I can remember my first time on the unit. I was shown into a day room which was quite small, with the chairs for patients all close together.
“Once a month, I would have a half-hour infusion of Zometa to help strengthen my bones and be given chemotherapy tablets to take at home for three weeks out of every four.
“I remember going to the former unit a number of years ago and water was coming through the ceiling, so the patients had to be decanted to somewhere else in the hospital.
“There was a bit more room in our new home and that is where the day unit has remained to this day.
“The staff are always very friendly and during treatment I chat with some of the patients if they want to, otherwise I read a book.
“Staff are always willing to answer any questions you have, despite always being very busy.
“I continued with chemotherapy treatment for around a year and then was recommended to have a stem cell transplant at Singleton Hospital in Swansea. After the transplant, I was in remission for six years and there was no treatment, just check-ups every few months.
“Then the protein levels started to rise again and I had to resume the treatment at the day unit.” This continued for Jane until early 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
Luckily, there was an improvement in her levels again and she was able to stop treatment for nearly two years.
She added: “Now I have started on maintenance chemotherapy, which means I’m back on the unit but with smaller doses.”
The Bronglais Chemo Appeal was launched at the end of November last year to raise the final £500,000 needed for construction to start on a new, purpose-built chemotherapy day unit at the hospital.
Speaking about having a new unit at Bronglais Hospital, Jane said: “I am sure a new chemotherapy unit will make a lot of difference for many patients.
“At certain times in the current unit, when you are having treatment, people are walking through to get to other departments, which is a bit disconcerting.
“A purpose-built unit will be wonderful for both patients and for staff.”