Dubliner Niamh Walsh was working as a cook in a creche in April last year when she noticed her left leg was about 4cm wider than her right one.
She had no other symptoms and when her GP referred her to the city’s St James’s Hospital she did not think anything was wrong.
Following an ultrasound, she was told she had a mass of around 28cm in her pelvic area.
Ms Walsh was diagnosed with ependymoma of the ovary – an extremely rare type of ovarian tumour.
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She underwent an eight-hour open surgery, chemotherapy and, 11 weeks ago, had a preventive hysterectomy, in which her uterus was removed to reduce the chance of the cancer returning.
“I’m an only child, so this was a really big time for my parents being told out of the blue last year that their daughter has a really rare form of cancer that requires extreme operations and chemo after,” Ms Walsh (30) said.
The diagnosis was a shock to her, too, she said. She is now trying to process everything she’s been through over the past year.
“Still to this day, I cry about it,” she says. “If I hadn’t had that hysterectomy I could have heard it was back in the other ovary. I’m a very anxious person and the last thing I wanted was to be told the cancer was back.”
On Wednesday, the Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute (TSJCI) announced it has become the first cancer unit in Ireland to be accredited as a comprehensive cancer centre – a specialised institution recognised for advanced research and a broad range of cancer services.
The Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) decided the Dublin base met or exceeded robust standards in cancer care, research and education.
Prof Maeve Lowery, academic director of the TSJCI, said this designation would allow the hospital to bring improvements in patient-centred care.
“This carries an international weight. So it’s about international benchmarking recognised across Europe and the US that shows certain standards of integration of academic activities like research, education, with clinical care. The real goal of it is to achieve more treatment options, better treatment options for patients,” she said.
Prof Lowery said the hope was this designation would provide greater access for patients to novel treatments and clinical trials, an area in which Ireland had traditionally been viewed as lagging behind.
“It’s the big issue within Ireland at the moment, there’s a lot of disparity. The patients we treat here – we’re a public hospital – and our patients are among the lowest socio-economic in the country. So it’s really important that in the public system we’re providing the best we can in terms of novel treatment,” she said.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said the announcement marks a “significant advancement” in cancer care for Ireland.
“Comprehensive cancer centres like TSJCI bring an additional focus on research and training which can expand the treatment options available for patients now and into the future,” she said.
This is particularly true for patients such as Ms Walsh, who have rarer forms of cancer and for whom the diagnosis can feel devastating. If it were not for the kindness from the team of clinicians who treated her, Ms Walsh said she “wouldn’t have gotten through it”.
“My type of cancer, if I hadn’t have had that operation when I did, it would have spread. This hospital saved my life,” she said.
“After this whole thing, I’m seeing a different side to myself. I used to be a very shy person, but now I’m trying to get out there. I’m trying to just enjoy life, because you’ve got to enjoy it while we can.”
