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A former triathlete whose terminal cancer was initially mistaken for long Covid has been given months to live. <\/p>\n
Olivia Knowles, from Blackpool, noticed something “wasn’t quite correct” in August 2023 while competing in the Half Ironman World Championship in Lahti, Finland.<\/p>\n
The two-mile swim and 56-mile cycle went smoothly but she added she “just wasn’t able to push as hard as [she] normally would” during the 13-mile (20-km) run to the finish line.<\/p>\n
The 33-year-old went to a private doctor in November 2023 and was told it was “very likely to be long Covid”, before extreme toothache days later prompted an emergency hospital visit and a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
She said after a series of relapses and months of treatment over the course of last year, she had received a stem cell transplant in December and had been declared cancer-free.<\/p>\n
However, just a week later, in early March this year, Ms Knowles was given the “bitter” news the leukaemia had returned.<\/p>\n
The hair salon owner, whose “typical weekend” before her diagnosis involved 100-mile bike rides and 15-mile runs, walked 20 miles around Fairhaven Lake on 16 March to raise funds for clinical research at King’s College Hospital.<\/p>\n
She said she hoped any donations would improve research on AML, a particularly aggressive cancer which, she said, had not seen any “solid advancements” in treatment for 50 years.<\/p>\n
“I always thought that relapse would be a real possibility, but obviously, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon,” she said.<\/p>\n
“All I really miss now is going to work and training. That’s all I want \u2013 just my normal day and my normal routine.<\/p>\n
“It might sound odd to some people, but I would just love to take the dog for a run and go to work, more than anything.”<\/p>\n
With AML, she explained: “Even if there’s a speck of it left, it just regrows.<\/p>\n
“And what regrows is basically the resistant cells, the ones that have evaded and resisted the previous chemo.”<\/p>\n
Ms Knowles’ consultant at Blackpool Victoria Hospital had given her three options \u2013 try to get a transplant despite her relapse, join a clinical trial or “do nothing”.<\/p>\n
In November, after various unsuccessful trials, Olivia was given a novel Car-T treatment \u2013 immunotherapy which genetically modifies a patient’s T-cells to attack cancer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The treatment at King’s College Hospital in London was followed by the stem cell transplant.<\/p>\n
“The initial bone marrow findings were excellent,” she said.<\/p>\n
“There were no signs of disease. It was a really positive result at first.”<\/p>\n
Last month, she was readmitted with gut issues, a common side effect of stem cell transplants, but blood tests “showed active disease”.<\/p>\n
Ms Knowles said her consultant had been “blindsided” by her relapse, because the transplant had gone so well.<\/p>\n
While home with her mum Susan and dad Stephen, she decided “on a little bit of a whim” to walk a marathon around Fairhaven Lake to raise funds for the clinical research team at King’s.<\/p>\n
The former triathlete was forced to stop after 20 miles but still raised more than \u00a325,000.<\/p>\n
She hopes the money will contribute to “solid advancements”, saying the team at King’s were “on the cusp of something excellent with their development of Car-T treatment for AML”.<\/p>\n
“For them to have something that can help treat children, it gives you a bit more hope,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n