Stem Cell Clinic

Cancer struck Welsh mum so aggressively it cracked her ribs and damaged her spine – North Wales Live

A mum-of-two suffered cracked ribs and small holes in her spine due to an aggressive form of cancer.

The pain in her chest and spine was so severe Susie Suter could barely walk, so she decided to go see a doctor who booked her in for a series of hospital scans.

The scans showed that Susie's cancer had spread all across her body, damaging her spine and sternum.

Susie, 51, told WalesOnline : "I'm so grateful that I was with my mother at the time because I was deeply shocked by the news."

"I just couldn't believe it. I had been fit and healthy all my life and felt so young. I thought I was looking at a terminal illness. The consultant looked devastated when he told me."

Susie was eventually diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer that develops in white blood cells called plasma cells, in August 2013, at the age of 44.

"I was so relieved to have a diagnosis," admitted mum-of-two Susie, the owner of the Gliffaes Country House Hotel in Crickhowell, Powys.

"The worst bit was not knowing what it was and feeling so anxious about what would happen to me.

"My daughters were in the middle of their exams at school and I was worried about how they would feel. It was a relief to get some answers."

At the Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff, Susie had radiotherapy treatment. She also received chemotherapy under the care of Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny.

Her best chance of survival, according to doctors, was to undergo a stem cell transplant to help her body make new healthy blood cells after her own had been damaged by the disease.

She underwent the transplant in March, 2014 during which time she spent three weeks in an isolation ward.

Susie, wife to James Suter, 54, and mum to Alexandra, 25, and Olivia, 23, added: "I found this part of my treatment incredibly hard. I felt so sick and tired and I lost a lot of weight and eventually all my hair.

"It took me a long time to feel myself again after this, although the medical team were excellent and helped me to get through it."

Six months after the transplant, Susie said her energy levels had returned, and after a year she began to feel like she had done before her diagnosis.

Since then she has accomplished sporting and non-sporting challenges for charity, including a fundraising bike ride from London to Paris.

She also completed the last 20 miles of a 1,000-mile virtual cycling challenge with her friend and personal trainer Mike James in lockdown while she was shielding at home.

Susie has also hosted fundraising coffee mornings and raised funds for Cancer Research UK with an annual Christmas carol evening at her hotel.

Ever since her transplant five years ago she has been on a Cancer Research UK-supported clinical research trial involving the drug Revlimid which has kept her feeling well.

But last year she suffered a blow when she was told she had relapsed and might need another stem cell transplant in the future. Susie currently has regular bone-strengthening treatments at Nevill Hall Hospital.

By sharing her remarkable story, Susie hopes to inspire people across Wales to donate to Cancer Research UK to get lifesaving work back on track.

"Research gives me, my family, and friends the hope we need," she said.

"It's thanks to improved treatments that I've been given more precious time with my loved ones. It upsets me to think about research being delayed and what this might mean for people affected by cancer in the months and years to come."

After the cancellation of fundraising events like Race for Life, Cancer Research UK is expecting a staggering 160m drop in income in the year ahead.

As a result, the charity said it had been forced to take the difficult decision to cut 44m in research funding -but this is likely to be just the beginning.

Cassandra Miles, Cancer Research UK spokeswoman for Wales, said: "Were grateful to Susie for helping to underline the stark reality of the current situation.

"Covid-19 put so much of our research on pause, leaving us facing a crisis where every day and every pound counts.

"With around 19,500 people diagnosed with cancer each year in Wales, we will never stop striving to create better treatments. But we cant do it alone.

"Whether they donate, sign up to Race for Life at Home or shop at our stores - with the help of people in Wales, we believe that together we will still beat cancer. Donate now at cruk.org/give."

Cancer Research UK was able to spend nearly 4m in Wales last year on some of the UK's leading scientific and clinical research.

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Cancer struck Welsh mum so aggressively it cracked her ribs and damaged her spine - North Wales Live

12 Incredible inventions to make you feel Proudly South African – The South African

Did you know that it was the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa made lithium batteries a reality? How about the CAT scan? Yes, that it is a South African invention too.

Its a little-known fact but according to theSable Network, South Africa is a world leader in everything from cell culturing to microsatellites and the technologies of flight.

Lets look at a list of other breakthroughs in science and medicine that South Africans can be proud of. How many were you aware of?

One of the most famous inventions to come of out of South Africa has to be the CAT scan or Computed Axial Tomography Scan. It was created by physicists Allan Cormack and Godfrey Hounsfield in 1972.

An X-ray source and electronic detectors rotate around the patients body and collect all the data needed to produce a cross-section of the body.

Sasol previously know as the South African Gas Distribution Company was founded in 1950 when the government realised that our country had oil reserves.

To this day, Sasol remains theworlds first and largest oil-from-coal refineryand produces approximately 40% of all fuel used in South Africa.

Dr Chris Barnard famouslyperformed the worlds first hearttransplant in 1967 on Louis Washkansky, who volunteered for the groundbreaking surgery.

The success of the first heart transplant turned Dr Barnard into somewhat of a celebrity on the international scene, and he performed ten more transplants throughout his career.

On 3 March 2019, Professor Mashudu Tshifularo became the first person to transplant 3D-printed bones for reconstructive middle ear implants, at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital.

Prof Tshifularo, who is the head of the Department of Ear, Nose, and Throat and Head and Neck Surgery at theOtorhinolaryngologyDepartment of theUniversity of Pretoria, developed the echnology during his PhD studies.

The patients who received the reconstructive middle ear implants was a 40-year-old with accidental trauma damage, and a 62-year-old with a middle ear issue and a history of failed interventions.

The CSIRs Gene Expression and Biophysics groupdesigned the first induced pluripotent stem cells in Africa, which opened the door for researchers to investigate various diseases and cures.

Stem cells could be used to restore sight or repair cells affected by heart disease, amongst other things. The possibilities are endless and are still being explored.

South Africas most well-known invention is most probably the Kreepy Krauly. It wasdeveloped by Ferdinand Chauvier from Springsin the mid-seventies.

Basically a vacuum cleaner for a swimming pool, it collects debris and takes the hassle out of pool cleaning, leaving pool-owners with more time to relax next to the pool instead of cleaning it.

George Pratley initially wanted to create a type of glue to hold electrical components and inadvertently created something much stronger.

It wasdeveloped in the late sixties,and even help sent man to the moon! Pratleys Putty was famously used by Apollo XI during the Moon Landing to hold bits of the landing craft together. Yep, a South African invention made sure those astronauts returned home safe and sound.

In 1950, a Mr Robertson from Pinetown, KwaZulu Natal, invented the lubrication we know today as Q20. He was discussing the merits of the spray with his neighbour soon after inventing it, saying that the spray has 20 answers to 20 questions.

He did not know how else describe the effective water repellent which not only keeps rust at bay, but also eases squeaky door hinges, and also eases rusted and seized nuts and bolts.

Today, its one of South Africas most-loved products.

Back in the early 2000s Mark Shuttleworth created Ubuntu, and open-source Linux-based operating system. The first version of Ubuntu was released in October 2004, and Shuttle announced the creation of the Ubunut Foundation in July the following yea.

The purpose of the foundation is to ensure the support anddevelopmentfor all future versions of Ubuntu. Shuttleworth said the foundations goal was to ensure the continuity of the Ubuntu project. Indeed, today Im writing this article on Ubuntu. Thank you, Mark.

The worlds first digital laser wasinvented by doctoral candidate, and CSIR researcher, Dr Sandile Nqcobo, and the former minister of Science and Technology cited it as a testimony to the calibre of scientists that South Africa has.

The laser is used in the health sector, and its numerous applications could also be used to improve the communication sector.

A new method used in cataract surgery was created at the Baragwanath hospital in Soweto in the mid-seventies by a specialist in retinal diseases, Selig Percy Amoils.

Amoils received the Queens Award for Technological Innovation, and his cryoprobe was later displayed at the prestigious Kensington Museum.

The scanner wascreated by Lodox Systems,a South African company that created the full-body scanner from technology that was initially designed for the security sector for the detection of stolen diamonds.

The use of the full-body scanner was written into the storyline of Greys Anatomy during the shows ninth season when the Grace Mercy West Hospital installed the scanner in their new ER department.

The three-piece single-use syringe was specially designed in 1999 by several doctors at the Vaal University of Technology to provide increased protection against needle-stick injury.

In the era of Ebola, Hepatitis and HIV, the safety syringe has saved countless lives..

Bonus round! We already mentioned Professor Mashudu Tshifularo and the first transplant of 3D-printed bones, Mark Shuttleworths Ubuntu and Dr Sandile Ngcobos Digital Laser further up.

However, are a few more proudly South African inventions from the 21st century.

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12 Incredible inventions to make you feel Proudly South African - The South African

Mum had tumour so big it cracked her ribs – Wales Online

When mum Susie Suter began suffering with pain that was so severe in her chest and spine that she struggled to walk, she knew it was time to see a doctor.

But the news he gave her was so shocking, she said even the consultant looked "devastated".

She'd had to undergo a serious of hospital scans which confirmed cancer. It was a cancer that had spread all over her body and even damaged her spine and sternum.

In fact, the disease had become so aggressive that small holes had formed in her vertebrae and the tumours had caused several of her ribs to crack.

Susie, 51, said: "I'm so grateful that I was with my mother at the time because I was deeply shocked by the news."

"I just couldn't believe it. I had been fit and healthy all my life and felt so young. I thought I was looking at a terminal illness. The consultant looked devastated when he told me."

After further tests and biopsies, Susie's results were discussed by doctors at Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny, as well as members of the All Wales Lymphoma panel, a group of experts who specialise in blood cancers in Wales.

Eventually, in August, 2013, at the age of 44, Susie was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer that develops in white blood cells called plasma cells.

"I was so relieved to have a diagnosis," admitted mum-of-two Susie, the owner of the Gliffaes Country House Hotel in Crickhowell, Powys.

"The worst bit was not knowing what it was and feeling so anxious about what would happen to me.

"My daughters were in the middle of their exams at school and I was worried about how they would feel. It was a relief to get some answers."

Susie had radiotherapy treatment at the Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff and was under the care of Nevill Hall Hospital for chemotherapy.

Doctors had advised Susie that her best chance of survival would be a stem cell transplant.

In March, 2014, she underwent the transplant to help her body make new healthy blood cells after her own had been damaged by the disease.

It meant three weeks in an isolation ward while she had chemotherapy before she was given her "clean" stem cells back.

Susie, wife to James Suter, 54, and mum to Alexandra, 25, and Olivia, 23, added: "I found this part of my treatment incredibly hard. I felt so sick and tired and I lost a lot of weight and eventually all my hair.

"It took me a long time to feel myself again after this, although the medical team were excellent and helped me to get through it."

Six months after the transplant, Susie said her energy levels had returned, and after a year she began to feel like she had done before her diagnosis.

Since then she has accomplished sporting and non-sporting challenges for charity, including a fundraising bike ride from London to Paris.

She also completed the last 20 miles of a 1,000-mile virtual cycling challenge with her friend and personal trainer Mike James in lockdown while she was shielding at home.

Susie has also hosted fundraising coffee mornings and raised funds for Cancer Research UK with an annual Christmas carol evening at her hotel.

Ever since her transplant five years ago she has been on a Cancer Research UK-supported clinical research trial involving the drug Revlimid which has kept her feeling well.

But last year she suffered a blow when she was told she had relapsed and might need another stem cell transplant in the future. Susie currently has regular bone-strengthening treatments at Nevill Hall Hospital.

By sharing her remarkable story, Susie hopes to inspire people across Wales to donate to Cancer Research UK to get lifesaving work back on track.

"Research gives me, my family, and friends the hope we need," she said.

"It's thanks to improved treatments that I've been given more precious time with my loved ones. It upsets me to think about research being delayed and what this might mean for people affected by cancer in the months and years to come."

After the cancellation of fundraising events like Race for Life, Cancer Research UK is expecting a staggering 160m drop in income in the year ahead.

As a result, the charity said it had been forced to take the difficult decision to cut 44m in research funding -but this is likely to be just the beginning.

Cassandra Miles, Cancer Research UK spokeswoman for Wales, said: "Were grateful to Susie for helping to underline the stark reality of the current situation.

"Covid-19 put so much of our research on pause, leaving us facing a crisis where every day and every pound counts.

"With around 19,500 people diagnosed with cancer each year in Wales, we will never stop striving to create better treatments. But we cant do it alone.

"Whether they donate, sign up to Race for Life at Home or shop at our stores - with the help of people in Wales, we believe that together we will still beat cancer. Donate now atcruk.org/give."

Cancer Research UK was able to spend nearly 4m in Wales last year on some of the UK's leading scientific and clinical research.

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Mum had tumour so big it cracked her ribs - Wales Online