Tomás Mulqueen, the popular Cork club cyclist who has
been battling cancer, has had a very significant breakthrough in his treatment
as a bone marrow match has been found for him.
It means the father of three, who has been battling
cancer since last year, is set for a bone marrow transplant next month as his
cancer is now in remission.
“That’s a very big breakthrough. It means I can go on the
road to recovery,” Mulqueen told stickybottle of a bone marrow match being
found after an international trawl.
“I heard on Wednesday that they had a match. I was in for
another round of treatment and the consultant came down to me and told me. We
were all delighted. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders.”
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He said his wife, Linda, and children - Emer (12),
Darragh (6) and Caoimhe (20) - were also delighted and he was now looking
forward to taking a sensible approach to the period ahead and getting back to
full health.
While medical staff had initially tried to find a bone
marrow match within his family, those efforts were not successful. However, an
international search has come up with the result that Mulqueen and his family
were hoping for.
Even while the search for a match was still underway,
Mulqueen’s cancer had to be in remission before a bone marrow transplant could
proceed.
And now after a donor has been found for the De Ronde van
Cork rider he’s in remission, meaning the transplant can go ahead in about one
month’s time.
Mulqueen had cancer 20 years ago but he beat it. However,
a period of feeling unwell last winter culminated in his withdrawal from a
cyclocross race in Mallow and he said he knew then he was not right and so went
for tests.
The condition diagnosed, in April, was K Cell
Lymphoma in the oesophagus and his bone marrow. He is currently undergoing his
fourth round of chemotherapy in Cork University Hospital
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His cancer has been in remission since round two, but he continued
with a third and now a fourth round of treatment “just to make sure the tumour
is absolutely zapped”.
He said the bone marrow would now be taken from the donor
and mixed with plasma and blood, which would be administered to him by IV.
“They are
saying the end of August, that’s when I’m penciled to go into St James in
Dublin,” he explained of the process from here.
“I was expecting it would all be much longer but it isn’t;
which is great. It means I am on the road to recovery sooner than I thought.
“They said to me that being fit and healthy before I
start makes it easier on everyone. And the fact I caught it early was also very
important.”
He now faces six weeks in St James Hospital from the end
of August, when the transplant will take place.
Following that period he must then stay in Dublin for six
months, during which time he will rent accommodation.
During that time he will be monitored as an outpatient “every few days” and cannot be more than half an hour away from the hospital at any time.
Because of the expense involved, including for accommodation in central Dublin for months, a fundraising drive was organised for him which has raised in excess of €60,000.
Mulqueen said it was vital more Irish people registered as blood and bone marrow donors. And he also encouraged others, especially men, to listen to their bodies for the signs of illness and not to delay getting checked out as in his case early detection was vital.
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