‘thank you for saving my life’

A young cancer survivor who suffered with a rare tumour that developed during pregnancy and that would eventually leave her without the ability to use her legs has spoken in praise of the phenomenal support and care she received at Weston Park Cancer Centre, which turns 50 this year.

At first Lucy Gray, then 29, thought she was having a miscarriage after experiencing persistent pain and bleeding following the birth of her healthy baby girl, Ellena, in November 2016.

But six weeks later, in February 2017, a scan revealed Lucy had developed choriocarcinoma, a very rare cancer of the womb that affects one in every 50,000 pregnancies.

What followed next was, as Lucy, now 33, describes it “one hell of a journey” which would leave her without the use of her legs as the cancer spread to her spine and months of treatment and specialist nursing care and treatment at Weston Park Cancer Centre away from her young daughter and family.

Now Lucy is sharing her story to raise awareness of the huge effect gestational trophoblastic tumours can have on people’s lives and to inspire others as Weston Park celebrates its 50th year.

The Sheffield Gestational Trophoblastic Disease Centre, which is based at Weston Park Cancer Centre, is one of two specialist national centres in the UK treating gestational trophoblastic tumours, a rare group of tumours that grow inside the womb after conception.

“I loved every minute of being pregnant and I had no problems with my birth whatsoever,” says Lucy, whose strength and determination to keep going during her darkest times came from her daughter.

“But when I was told I had cancer I thought I was going to die. I had the most amazing emotions. I’d just had a baby but it was like I’d been slapped in the face as I had this diagnosis. I kept thinking, ‘why bring this little person into the world and then take me away?’”

The next few weeks would be gruelling for Lucy. The scans and X-rays showed there were tumours in her womb, lung and brain, so she was given a course of stereotactic radiotherapy to target the tumours in her brain followed by further chemotherapy. However, this initial course of treatment failed to reduce the size of the tumours and Lucy had another five rounds of chemotherapy, followed by a hysterectomy before being discharged home in December 2017.

She had a course of immunotherapy drugs which aimed to suppress the cancer by targeting certain cells in the immune system. Sadly, it wasn’t long before the cancer came back with a vengeance and on New Year’s Eve 2017 Lucy collapsed on the floor, suffering with bad back pains and unable to move. On New Year’s Day 2018 she was confirmed as being paraplegic. She underwent spinal surgery to remove the tumour from around her spinal cord and was readmitted to Weston Park, where she would spend the best part of five months receiving further intensive chemotherapy and specialist medical and nursing care.

“I never thought it was just a job to them,” she says. “It was such a horrible time but the staff made it as lovely as it could be.

“I was able to take my daughter to the playroom and feed her. The staff would literally sit with me until I understood what was happening to me.

“I would be Googling things, but they would tell me everyone’s experiences are so different, it’s a really individual thing. I really was in the best hands.”

Lucy was eventually transferred to the Princess Anne Spinal Cord Injuries Centre in May 2018 and then to the STEPS rehabilitation unit in Sheffield in June 2018, where she stayed until December 2018.

“I was told it was unlikely that I would ever walk again. I was in a wheelchair, but I worked hard and I can walk with two sticks now,” says Lucy, whose daughter is three and a half now. Lucy is now hoping to get married in October 2021.

“People say ‘you must hate coming back to Weston Park’, but to me that feels like a weird thing to say because they saved my life.

“It’s truly an amazing place. All the good they have done over the past 50 years, it’s phenomenal.”

Dr Matt Winter, Consultant Medical Oncologist and Deputy Director of the Sheffield Trophoblastic Disease Centre at Weston Park Cancer Centre, says: “I treat breast cancer and we have seen some remarkable progress in treatment advances over the years.

“I am also very active in clinical research and run breast cancer clinical trials in Sheffield.

“In addition, I am the Deputy Director of the Sheffield Trophoblastic Disease Centre which was established in 1973.

“Gestational Trophoblastic Disease encompasses a range of pregnancy-related pre-cancerous and cancerous conditions. These cancers are on the whole very curable with chemotherapy.

“As this is a rare disease there are only two treatment centres in the UK, so we treat patients from all of the North of England and North Wales in Sheffield.

“It is a privilege to be part of an international leading service and through our extensive clinical experience, research and teaching, we are able contribute to the care of women with gestational trophoblastic disease both in the UK and throughout the world.

“I am proud to be able to say I work at Weston Park because it has always been an amazing place to work.”

The origins of Weston Park date back to the early 20th century when a public appeal was made by Lord Mayor George Branson and other prominent Sheffield citizens for donations to a radium beam unit and an experimental X-ray set, containing planning rooms, office, waiting rooms and a lecture theatre. The appeal was a success and the early foundations of Weston Park Cancer Centre were made.

The fund was used to create the Radium Centre in 1930 and subsequently the Sheffield National Centre for Radiotherapy in 1945. Weston Park Hospital was officially opened in April 1970 by Princess Anne. It marked a milestone in the development of specialist cancer services for our region. In 1995, the pioneering spirit of the centre was recognised again when it became a designated cancer centre for the region – a centre of excellence which it remains to this day.

Weston Park has played a vital role in spearheading advances in cancer treatment. In 1995, it was one of the first centres in the UK to start using CT in radiotherapy to ensure greater accuracy of identification of the position of tumours. Its researchers have also helped bring many new treatments to routine care through clinical trials, including a bone-strengthening drug now used for all women undergoing treatment of postmenopausal breast cancer.