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A woman who underwent Japan's first bone marrow transplant 35 years ago said the operation gave her a second chance at life.
She was speaking at a ceremony at St James's Hospital to mark the 40th anniversary of the first such operation in Ireland. Dublin.
Mairsil Houlihan, 61, received a transplant from his brother Des in 1989 after being diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia at the age of 27.
Without the surgery, she likely would have died.
Mairsil was diagnosed when he visited his GP after thinking he had pulled a muscle whilst sailing.
She was prescribed painkillers, but “they didn't work very well and by the end of the week I was in a lot of pain,” she recalls.
After initial tests, she was sent to St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin, where she received a diagnosis within a day – her only chance of returning to a normal life was a bone marrow transplant.
She said: “My parents and three siblings were all tested as potential donors and Des was identified as a match.”
“Once a donor was found and the transplant was ready, I had to be fitted with a catheter, have my whole body radiation dose measured and take various medications, one of which had to be injected every day and it was awful.
“I was admitted to St James’s Hospital on Friday and underwent high-dose chemotherapy over the weekend.
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“On Monday I was taken by ambulance to St. Luke's Hospital where I underwent radiation treatment. As soon as I was back in the isolation room I was given my brother's bone marrow via IV.”
She recuperated in isolation for three weeks, then spent three weeks in a hospital ward.
But within a year of her diagnosis, her life was back on track.
“Since then, there's been no looking back,” says Mairsil, now 61. “The team here has always been great, and still is. I come here every two years for an evaluation.”
“There are some of the same faces here as before and they've all been absolutely amazing, from the lady who cleaned my room while I was in isolation to the doctors, nurses and all the other staff.
“My transplant surgery was groundbreaking at the time. We take it for granted now, but without it I wouldn't be here now. It's amazing what they can do.”
The first patient
of country's The first bone marrow transplant was performed in June 1984 under the supervision of Professor Sean McCann and since then more than 3,750 transplant operations have been carried out at St James's Hospital.
The procedure is used in blood-related treatments. cancer These diseases include leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and rarely bone marrow failure and some tumors.
The goal is to cure the cancer or keep it in remission for as long as possible.
“Amazing system”
Healthy cells are transplanted from person to person, and in some cases, a person's own healthy cells can be used.
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Mairsil added: “My family is very close and everyone would have been tested. There's no question about it. I have 32 cousins and they all volunteered to get tested.”
“This is now a great system because back then there was no option for anonymous donor, meaning you could register as a donor by registering on the bone marrow registry.”
