Jodie Weldon loved GAA. It was the summer of 2020, she was 16 years old, and she had constant training and matches.
Her knee began to hurt her and, despite wearing a brace to support the injury, it eventually reached such a level of pain that she was unable to walk.
“I was in agony. My dad brought me straight up to VHI. They were looking at it and put me in a different kind of knee brace and said if nothing changes in a week to come back,” she said.
“I went back and then I got booked in for an MRI, got that, and that’s when we got the call that there was a tumour found.”
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Two weeks later, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
“I was feeling so many emotions, trying to come to terms with things. When you find out, there is a moment of: why me? Why now? Trying to find out. It was a cancer I had never heard of and when you’re hearing all these big names we didn’t know exist, so you wonder how you got it,” she said.
Speaking during sarcoma awareness month, Prof Alan Molloy, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Cappagh, said sarcoma is quite an unusual form of cancer.
“Sarcoma is ultimately a cancer that can arise from any of the soft tissues. Ultimately that means you can get a sarcoma in any cell type,” he said.
“That’s why it’s unusual. It is predominantly in the legs and arms, but because you have fat cells and muscles in the tummy and everywhere, you can get it there. You can get them in the chest, in the head and neck, anywhere.”
In terms of sarcoma in the bone, Prof Molloy said when people talk about bone cancer, it’s generally a cancer that has “spread from a breast or prostate, lung or kidney to their bone”.
“Whereas a sarcoma of bone starts in the bone. It’s a very difficult one to diagnose very early because kids and teenagers are the higher percentage of patients who get them. And they’re out, they’re playing sports, they get a knock and think it’s that. They don’t quite get over that injury and get it checked and then their world completely changes.”
There are about 280 cases of sarcoma diagnosed in Ireland every year, said Prof Molloy, with a five-year survival rate of about 75 per cent for those who have a localised cancer which has not spread elsewhere. Of the 280 cases of sarcoma, about 40 or 50 are bone sarcomas.
After her diagnosis, Ms Weldon, who is now 20, underwent chemotherapy and surgery. Most surprising to her, however, was the need for fertility treatment.
“One of the side-effects of the chemo I was on was an impact on fertility. And because I was so young, I had to do [fertility treatment]. It’s a long process, it’s injections every day and ultrasounds all the time. That was the first time it felt really real for me,” she said.
That year was incredibly difficult but now Ms Weldon has been cancer-free for almost three years and has just completed her first year of early childhood studies in Maynooth University.
She said she could not have done it if it wasn’t for the support of her friends and family, Arklow Cancer Support as well ashealthcare staff in St Vincent’s hospital and Cappagh Hospital.
“I am kind of back where I want to be. There is some stuff I won’t be able to do again, like I won’t be able to go back and play Gaelic football or any contact sport,” she said.
“I felt so privileged just to get back walking. Being able to go out and go back to myself. I said to myself I would make that sacrifice if I could go back to walking again.”
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