At 5pm I finished chemo. By 8am I was holding my newborn son

Ben Halpin was operating at full tilt when he was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. He had recently set up a business with his wife, who was six months pregnant with their first child 

Ben Halpin who recovered from non-Hodgkins Lymphoma with his newborn son Hugo

When Ben Halpin was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in June 2022, it came as a shock. He had no symptoms, and his diagnosis came after a routine blood test.

Having just turned 30, Halpin was also relatively young to be diagnosed with the disease, which typically affects people aged over 65. Around 800 people are diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Ireland each year, 60% are over 65.

We’re meeting in the office of Halpin Wealth and Mortgages in Douglas, Cork, the business he runs with his wife, Samantha.

When he received the results of that routine blood test in 2022, it revealed that one or two markers, which track inflammation, were slightly elevated.

At his follow-up medical appointment, Halpin, who had just returned from a stag weekend in Bristol, told his doctor that he was feeling “rough” and was “sweating out the alcohol” but had put that down to his partying.

His GP was concerned enough to suggest Halpin visit the hospital to get checked out. That marked the start of “10 straight days in hospital”.

A chest X-ray at Mercy Hospital, Cork, revealed a shadow in his chest, right behind his breastbone. Two days later, after a CT scan, that shadow was identified as a 10cm x 7cm mass, a lymphoma. A biopsy confirmed the mass was cancerous — diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This is a particularly aggressive lymphoma, but crucially, it responds well to treatment.

The following days were a flurry of tests and scans as the doctors assessed if his body would be ready to handle what he was told would be “fairly aggressive chemotherapy”.

“I was going from room to room to room all around the Mercy getting my lungs, heart, and kidneys checked. I was in a whirlwind.

“But because I had an awful lot of time in a hospital bed, staring at the ceiling till all hours, I had been able to wrap my head around what was coming. By the time I was told it was cancer, I had come to terms with it to a certain degree.”

But telling his wife and family was difficult. Samantha was six months pregnant, and they were in the middle of setting up their business together. His parents were distraught — his mother had lost a brother to cancer at a similar age, and for her, it felt like it was all happening again.

The now 35-year-old says his attitude at the time was “it is what it is, let’s tackle it now”.

He was sent home for 10 days before his treatment plan was due to start. Due to the fast-moving nature of the disease, his chemotherapy plan was intensive.

“I came into the hospital on the Monday morning, and I was straight ‘on the bag’, or intravenous chemotherapy delivery.”

Intense routine

From Monday to Friday of the first round, Halpin was constantly hooked up to the chemotherapy, with nurses replacing the bag every time it was finished. The routine was intense. “You’re on chemo for a full straight week, and then you go home for two weeks, and then you’re back in to start again.”

The routine meant that every three weeks, Halpin was leaving his wife for a full week “and obviously she was getting progressively more pregnant”.

Samantha was also suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, where a pregnant woman experiences extreme morning sickness for the duration of the pregnancy.

It was an deeply stressful time for the couple. Halpin recalls that his wife’s doctors were concerned that the stress and anxiety of his being diagnosed with cancer six months into Samantha’s pregnancy could trigger early labour.

Meanwhile, Halpin was locked into his punishing chemotherapy routine. During the two weeks off, he explains that he had to get twice-weekly blood tests to determine how he was handling the chemotherapy.

“Thankfully, probably because of my age, I handled each cycle well. But, in saying that, I was a bit of a zombie for that period of time, especially as the latter periods of the chemo went by.

“It was all fairly hardcore, but I was just trying to fight on as best I could.”

Because of the couple’s unique medical circumstances, their respective consultants had been in contact. As Samantha was scheduled for a C-section on Friday, October 21, Halpin’s chemotherapy timetable was altered so that he could attend the birth of his first child.

“I finished my chemo on Thursday 5pm, and I was in CUMH by 5am on the Friday morning. Hugo was born three hours later at 8am.

“Sam still jokes that in the recovery room the nurses were asking me, ‘Would you like a chair? Are you OK?’ And Sam was like, ‘I just gave birth. Why is nobody paying attention to me?’

“To be fair,” he laughs, “I looked like an alien. I was orange from the chemo — my skin had changed pigment. I was completely bald. I had no eyebrows. No facial hair.”

No memory of his son’s first week of life

By 11am on that Friday morning, Halpin had to return to the couple’s house. At home, he “spiked a massive fever” and remained in bed for a week.

“I don’t really remember the first week of Hugo’s life”.

But their families rallied around. Samantha’s mother and Halpin’s brother, who had cancelled a move to Canada, supported Samantha and helped as much as they could.

It was an emotional time for Halpin. “You know the cheesy Instagram photo where the dad carries the newborn out of the hospital — I couldn’t do that. I had to drag myself out of bed to go to the hospital, but my brother carried Hugo. I had to wait in the car.”

He pauses. “That was very emotional. I think that was probably the toughest time of the whole experience.”

Ben Halpin with his wife Samantha and their children, son Hugo and daughter Enola.

During the three months of his treatment, the couple adopted a mantra — just keep swimming.

“You just have to keep swimming, no matter what comes. Whether it’s really good business news or devastating family news, you just have to keep going.

“There is no other option. The problem is still going to be there whether you face it or not. Life is how you react to it as opposed to anything else, you know.”

In early December 2022, a PET scan revealed that Halpin was cancer-free — that was four years ago.

The couple has since had a second child, a one-year-old girl called Enola, who was starting her first day of creche as we meet. This time around, Halpin said he was able to enjoy the full birth experience.

• September 15 is World Lymphoma Awareness Day

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Key symptoms:

• Painless swollen lymph nodes (lumps) in the neck, armpit or groin are the most common symptom. These swollen glands may come and go.
• Those with low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma may have few or no symptoms.

Other symptoms (‘B symptoms’)

• Drenching night sweats
• Persistent fever or high temperature
• Loss of appetite
• Unexplained weight loss
• Ongoing fatigue or extreme tiredness
• Itchy skin
• Skin rash

Lymphoma symptoms in other areas of the body:

Lymphoma can develop in the stomach or bowel: Abdominal pain, diarrhoea, indigestion

Chest: Persistent cough or difficulty swallowing

Skin: Rough, red patches

Note: These symptoms can be caused by many conditions other than cancer. However, any unusual, persistent or unexplained symptoms should be checked by a GP.

• Source: Irish Cancer Society