Allison Blight from Blyth is an ENT secretary at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle which, coincidentally, is also where she has been receiving treatment for cancer at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care.
Aged 54, Allison was diagnosed with smouldering myeloma, an early form of the blood cancer myeloma, in 2020 during the COVID pandemic.
Allison’s condition was monitored and, when active myeloma was diagnosed in 2023, she began treatment in the form of a clinical trial.
Allison describes how she was first diagnosed: “I didn’t have typical cancer symptoms but apparently that’s usual with smouldering myeloma.
“I’m normally a really active person and run regularly, but for weeks I had no energy. As I’d previously tested positive for COVID I thought it was linked to that. But when my line manager asked if maybe there was an underlying problem, I called my GP and had a blood test.
“I’m very glad I did because two days later the GP called to say I had protein in my blood that was related to myeloma and I was referred, first to Wansbeck General Hospital then to the Haematology team at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care.
“Smouldering myeloma doesn’t usually require treatment but they kept an eye on me after the diagnosis and my numbers kept going up and my blood was like tar.
“By 2023, things had changed and I was told I had active myeloma, so I began treatment and had chemotherapy via injections and a stem cell transplant.
“It was pretty tough to start with. I was in hospital for two weeks and I lost my hair but things improved.
“Since April 2024 I’ve been on a maintenance level of chemotherapy and my bloods are currently fine. I’m vulnerable to chest infections and haven’t fully regained my strength. I’m taking baby steps but trying to live life as normal as possible.
“I’ve been on a trial since day one of my treatment. It was offered to me and I thought, why not? The treatment has been effective and I’ve had really in-depth assessment and care.
“The trials team at the Freeman are amazing. They’re always on hand and you see the same nurses every time, which means you build a one-to-one relationship.
“My life is in their hands. I couldn’t get better treatment. There are downsides, I have to have a bone marrow biopsy every six months, which isn’t nice. But the treatment is saving my life.
“Not only that, the trial is part of the bigger picture in terms of cancer research, so it’s not just about my life, it will help other people too.
“The Sir Bobby Robson Institute will help even more people to access the kind of cancer trial I’m benefitting from and I feel hugely positive about that.”
