Anna smiles as first treatment goes well

BRAVE Anna Drysdale has completed her first round of gruelling cancer treatment in the US.

The eight-year-old had an operation two weeks ago to fit a central line into her chest before life-saving immunotherapy could begin at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Newyork.

She underwent the cell-blasting therapy last Monday,wednesday and Friday, completing the first round successfully.

It is hoped the treatment will stop the aggressive bone sarcoma she has already fought twice from returning after a generous Sunday Express reader paid £400,000 following our fundraising crusade.

But the experience has been exhausting for Anna. Mother Keeley says: “We did not realise how full-on it was going to be. Anna has been a complete trooper with a smile on her face but it is a lot to deal with.

“The first week we had scans and MRIS and full body tests to make sure there was no sign of any cancer in her system and obviously that was very nerve-racking.

“Anna is young but she knows what is going on now, and we face it as a team.

“The results were all good, otherwise Anna would not have been eligible for the treatment at all, but then it became clear the immunotherapy was going to be a lot more full-on for Anna than we thought.

“We were expecting her to be in a bit of pain but doctors warned us before we started that it would be a lot more intense, with side-effects that would make Anna feel like she couldn’t breathe.

“Ian and I have to keep reminding each other that we are doing this to make her better, that it is in her best interests. It has been very hard.”

It was thought Anna would have five cycles of immunotherapy with breaks but she may need longer rest periods to allow her body to fully recover.

“We will be watching to see how she responds,” says Keeley. “This is all exploratory – Anna is only the 30th person to have this treatment, so it is all new.”

Anna, from Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, managed to see a bit of Newyork in a wheelchair on her first break. “We are trying to make it as happy and comfortable as we can,” says Keeley.

Immunotherapy works by teaching Anna’s body to detect cancer cells as they develop. The medication goes straight into the main veins near her heart to boost the white blood cell count and deliver the immunotherapy.

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