'There'll be tears' — Vicky Phelan to return home after a difficult six months

The activist said her current spell of treatment has been the most difficult part of her cancer journey so far. 

Though she's been on the other side of the Atlantic for half a year, Vicky Phelan said support from home has helped her to keep going. She returns home to see her family next week.

Activist Vicky Phelan says she is like "a child waiting for Santa" in her excitement to get home to Ireland and see her family next week.  

After six months in the US undergoing intensive pioneering treatment, Ms Phelan said "there will be tears" when she gets home. 

As a result of travel restrictions in Ireland and the US, Ms Phelan's family were unable to visit her during her time in Washington DC — something that made her whole experience that much harder.

The Limerick woman said this current spell of treatment has been the most difficult part of her cancer journey so far. 

"Looking back, if I had known that none of my family would be able to travel out, I might not have come,” she said on RTÉ Radio this morning. 

"Even though I was lying in that hospital bed on my own, feeling sorry myself, I know that there’s no other option."

Speaking about her treatment, Ms Phelan said the last two weeks or so have been more manageable compared to the four weeks beforehand, where she was "getting hit with one side-effect after another."

However, she is hopeful things won’t be as bad upon her return to treatment in August.

"If the scan results are good, it'll give me a boost to know things are working."

Ms Phelan said she has also been buoyed by the "amazing" support she has been receiving from Irish people living in and near Washington, who helped her get a mobile phone, get shopping in, and who she has been able to turn to for a chat.

"Little things like that, make me feel at home," she said. 

Asked about her impressions of the US healthcare system compared to the Irish one, Ms Phelan said her American carers "treat the medical and the clinical side of you, but they don’t do the whole holistic side of things."

She said she tried to get in touch with other people on the same clinical trial as her, so she could share her experiences, but that she hasn't been able to meet anybody in the same situation. 

"At home, I’d go up for treatment, I’d see the same faces, and we’d all chat to each other. But it’s not the same here," she said. 

Vicky Phelan and her dad, John Kelly to whom she penned a heartfelt letter for Father's Day recently.

Though she's been on the other side of the Atlantic for half a year, she said support from home has helped her to keep going. 

“I've never had enough contact from people as I have had in the last six months," she said.

Also on the Sunday with Miriam show this morning were Vicky's mother, Gaby, and her father, John, to whom she penned a heartfelt letter for Father's Day recently. 

In the letter, she wrote of her appreciation of life and how her cancer battle has given her the courage to express her love for the people closest to her, including her parents.

Recalling one particularly challenging day, she wrote of how her father drove her in for a chemo session and stayed by her side throughout.

“I'm so privileged that you are my dad and my cancer journey has emboldened me to show the love I have for you," she wrote. 

John said he became very emotional reading his daughter's letter.

“It's been a long journey for us, it’s been a rollercoaster ride, but she’s still on the tracks,” he said.  

Aside from seeing her family and friends, Ms Phelan said there is one short trip she's excited to make once she's back home. 

“A walk on my beach at Doonbeg, that’s something I’m really looking forward to," she added.