The woman revealed that she was not concerned about her cough or aches in the body until told of the truth.
Ellie Allman from Suffolk was just a few days away from her 30th Birthday when she received a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis.
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CF is a condition that causes a mucus build-up in the lungs and digestive system, and Ellie said she did not “feel anything initially” when she received her diagnosis.
“I was off work, I was frustrated, I was angry, my body didn’t feel right CF-wise – I had no energy, I couldn’t do what I wanted,” Ellie told PA Real Life.
Ellie’s quality of life improved dramatically in June 2021, after she became eligible for Kaftrio. This medication aids the lung function.
Ellie was “randomly”, however, ill and her doctors told her that the news would change everything.
Last July, the mum of one was told that she has myeloma. This is an incurable form of blood cancer.
Ellie was treated with four months’ worth of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and stem cell therapy after the shocking diagnosis.
This brave mother lost all her hair, recalled being “exhausted”, anxious, and suffering pains “worse” than contractions of labour.
Ellie was not alone. Today, she credits her husband Steve (44), son Harvey (13), and the many doctors, charity workers, and consultants with her recovery.
After her diagnosis, she is in remission. She has been undergoing maintenance chemo and says that it changed the way she looks at life.
“I’ve taught myself a whole new script for death; I find it difficult to live with failing health, but I don’t feel afraid of dying anymore,” she said.
“We don’t get a choice, that’s just how it goes, but I think having the right people around you is so important.
“I have to work hard not to lose myself within these diagnoses, and I have to remind myself that I’m still the person I was before my diagnosis.”
Ellie had whooping cough, a bacterial lung infection and respiratory tubes. She also suffered from flu and chest colds.
She was achy, and had a chronic cough that her mother tried to cure with herbal remedies.
Ellie claims she has “coughed all her life”, but her initial “dismissal” of symptoms was “incorrect”.
Ellie, who was 29 years old at the time of her diagnosis, had been suffering from repeated respiratory infections and difficulty speaking.
“You’ve lived your whole life not ill and then suddenly there’s this label,” she said.
She began receiving intravenous (IV), antibiotics, and physiotherapy treatments. Her health improved but she then started to have digestive issues due to thick mucus.
Ellie also was unable to have a baby again due to the side effects from the antibiotics. This had an “extreme” effect on her.
It was suggested that she take Creon along with her food to aid in digestion.
Ellie developed anorexia after 2016 because the medication didn’t seem to work with fruits and vegetables.
“I had no control over anything, it was the perfect storm in a way; the perfect circumstances for me to use that as a control mechanism,” she said.
Ellie was weak and tired after she lost more than four and a half stones. She underwent therapy and treatment to get back in control.
The medication that was being taken “blistered and ulcerated” the throat of the woman until it was time to put her on a tube feeding.
Ellie said the maintenance chemotherapy she is currently undertaking “feels like a breeze in comparison”, and she is continuing to take Kaftrio, meaning the symptoms of her CF have “massively reduced”.
After a diagnosis of CF, myeloma, and anorexia as well exhausting treatment, the mum said that she now feels empowered.
She has applied to become a magistrate and hopes another “miracle drug” becomes available in her lifetime to treat the cancer.
She added: “Even in the most testing of times, every time I have found something positive to focus on or something to hope for and that has kept me going.”