Michelle Gidion and her family were about to board a flight to the French Alps when a consultant called to tell her she’d been diagnosed with leukaemia and should not fly
A mother says her decision to go on holiday after receiving news of her cancer diagnosis was the wrong call – and could have changed the course of her life. Michelle Gidion, her husband Simon, and their four sons – aged between 16 and 21 – were heading off to the French Alps for their first holiday together in four years.
While at the airport, Michelle received a phone call from a haematologist, who told her a blood test she’d undergone showed she had leukaemia. The consultant warned her against boarding the plane because the platelets in her blood were at critically low levels. They said she could have bled to death had she been injured in an accident.
With very little time to decide the best course of action, the family decided to fly anyway – not wanting to ruin the long-anticipated trip, reports Manchester Evening News.
“I didn’t know anyone who had had leukaemia and had no idea how dangerous it was to travel,” Michelle said. “I’d been walking up hills only days before and wasn’t feeling unwell. I didn’t want to spoil things for my sons, but as it turned out it was the wrong call to make.”
The situation was so stressful that Michelle became ill as soon as they arrived in France and the family returned home 24 hours later. Michelle was taken directly to her local A&E from the plane where she spent 48 hours before transferred straight to The Christie cancer hospital.
She stayed for five days and had a bone biopsy which confirmed she had an aggressive type of blood cancer called AML (acute myeloid leukaemia) which is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow.
Michelle went straight onto a course of chemotherapy which she responded well to and went into remission, but after only five months the cancer returned.
Michelle was recommended for a stem cell transplant to cure her of cancer, and luckily a perfect match was found with a stem cell donor from the international register. She had the transplant in March 2024 but unfortunately had a reaction and went through a tough five-week-long stay at The Christie.
At one point she had to leave her isolation room and be taken to Manchester Eye Hospital to have laser eye surgery on her right eye to correct her vision that had been affected by the treatment.
Despite going through the gruelling transplant procedure and being given an 80 per cent chance of it being successful due to her age and level of fitness, biopsy results in May 2024 led to the devastating discovery that the procedure hadn’t worked.
Michelle was frail. She had no energy. She could barely walk. Her options were running out. But she refused to give in.
In July 2024, the mum-of-four was offered the chance to participate in research at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Manchester Clinical Research Facility (CRF) at The Christie in Manchester.
Now aged 56, two years on from her diagnosis, Michelle is in complete remission. She has no sign of cancer thanks to the cutting-edge new experimental drug.
Michelle signed up to an international clinical trial called CAMELOT-1. It is an early phase study for a new type of targeted cancer drug called bleximenib, which is a menin inhibitor. Scientists have found that a protein called menin plays a key role in helping leukaemia cells survive and grow in certain types of leukaemia.
Menin inhibitors are drugs that block this protein, making it harder for the leukaemia cells to keep multiplying. Without menin’s support, these cancerous cells become weaker and eventually die, allowing the body to start making healthy blood cells again.
Michelle started taking two tablets of the trial drug every morning and two in the evening, and began going to The Christie every four weeks for monitoring. In November last year, and again in February this year, Michelle had a DLI (donor lymphocyte infusion) from the same stem cell donor to help boost her new immune system from the bone marrow transplant.
Last month she was told the drug has got her into complete molecular remission which means there are currently no detectable signs of cancer in her blood or bone marrow.
Michelle explained: “The trial feels like there’s light at the end of a very long dark tunnel. The drug, together with the DLIs, has got me to a place where I feel a lot better and gradually I’m getting my energy levels back.
“Research is so important. When offered the trial there was no way I wasn’t going to say yes to it. I just want to be alive, so I grabbed it with both hands.
“It’s the only thing that’s given us hope in the last two years. My four sons have all signed up for the stem cell register now, so hopefully they can help someone in the future, and Jenson has recently raised money for blood cancer research. The whole experience has been life-changing for our family.”
Dr Emma Searle, a consultant haematologist who leads the trial at The Christie and is in charge of Michelle’s care, said: “With early phase trials where the drug has never been tested on patients before, we are looking at how well participants tolerate the treatment and what dose is safe.
“We are finding some side effects, which are usually manageable, but most importantly 41 per cent of patients have so far responded which is very promising. We are very pleased with Michelle’s progress on the trial.
“She has tolerated the drug well with minimal side effects, feels well and can enjoy life. This could potentially be a new therapy for patients with AML who have specific gene mutations and have relapsed after initial treatment, or may in the future be added to standard treatment for newly diagnosed patients to improve outcomes.”
The CAMELOT-1 study is open for recruitment with an aim to recruit 150 participants worldwide.
Any patients interested in taking part in clinical trials should discuss this option with their consultant or GP. Not all patients will fit the criteria for a specific trial. While clinical trials can be successful for some patients, outcomes can vary from case to case. More information about taking part in clinical trials can be found here.