Daffodil Diaries - Nathon Nash

"They told me I had anaplastic large T-cell lymphoma"

When Nathan Nash started to experience persistent back pain last April, he initially put it down to his highly physical work as a plumber. As the pain continued to worsen, the 27-year-old realised that this was more than a passing ache and decided to see his GP.

“I have had back pain before because of my job, but this felt deeper. I knew it wasn’t muscle. Usually I would just take painkillers, but with this, you’d know when the four hours [after taking them] was up. Then it got worse, and I was in pain again two hours after taking them.”

Nathan, who lives in Naas, Co. Kildare, attended two appointments with different GPs who prescribed painkillers and muscle relaxants to deal with the pain. Nathan sought an opinion from a third GP, and this set in motion his eventual diagnosis of a rare blood cancer called anaplastic large T-cell lymphoma, which is a non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

“When I went to the third GP, there was no messing around. He took bloods that day and said I had to go for an MRI, and the bloods came back clear, but the MRI found that there was swelling on my vertebrae.”

After this, Nathan spent three weeks in Tallaght University Hospital where medical staff carried out a number of tests to find the cause of the swelling. He underwent a nuclear bone scan and more MRIs, and he received a diagnosis in mid-July after a biopsy found that he had two cancerous tumours growing on his vertebrae.

“They told me I had anaplastic large T-cell lymphoma, and my first question was, ‘What’s that?’. To hear all those words, I genuinely didn’t know what they meant. Then they told me it was a rare blood cancer, and with my type of cancer, they can’t pinpoint where it comes from whatsoever.”

"I took the diagnosis better than I thought I would, and the nurse told me everything I was feeling was normal and I think that made a big difference. "

The diagnosis came as a shock to Nathan and his spouse, Lorraine, and he began chemotherapy in late July and is currently in the middle of treatment. The couple have two young children, four-year-old Kyra and two-year-old Casey, who helped when Nathan started losing his hair when he started chemotherapy.

“The hair loss started after my chemotherapy session, I woke up with my hair everywhere, all over the pillow. I shaved my head with Kyra, and in the days leading up to it I joked to her and Casey about how I didn’t like my hair, so we made it funny for them.”

Doctors found that Nathan had three cancerous tumours on his vertebrae, but he’s responding well to treatment and has been told by doctors that his cancer is very treatable. After he received his diagnosis, he visited the Irish Cancer Society’s Daffodil Centre in Tallaght University Hospital where he spoke to a cancer nurse.

“I took the diagnosis better than I thought I would, and the nurse told me everything I was feeling was normal and I think that made a big difference. I knew that I was going to spend a good part of the next year in hospital, so it’s good to know that the door is always open in the Daffodil Centre. You can just walk in, you don’t need an appointment.”

Alongside continuing his treatment, Nathan says he wants to raise awareness of cancer, particularly lymphomas, and to encourage others to get any potential symptoms or aches and pains checked out.

“I’m sure there are a lot of people who have persistent pain. I’m just lucky that they caught it early. Basically, people should follow their gut feeling. If you have persistent pain or abnormalities, you should get them checked out.”

"I’m sure there are a lot of people who have persistent pain. I’m just lucky that they caught it early"

Even though Nathan’s treatment itself is going well, he has encountered some barriers during the course of his treatment. These include parking issues at Tallaght University Hospital and the mounting cost of parking fees when attending appointments, and also initially being refused a medical card.

“The car park in Tallaght Hospital is very poor, there are only two floors and with how big the hospital is, it’s always full. I took a turn and had a fever a few days ago, and when we went to the hospital we still had to wait ten minutes to find parking, and the parking fees are very expensive.

“I’m not entitled to a medical card. I applied for an emergency medical card, that was declined. I appealed it and that was declined. We’re trying to appeal again and fill out all the paperwork, but it’s not looking good that I will get one. I worked full-time for 11 years before this, and I never asked for any of this to happen and it’s been a shock to everyone.