I came out the other side after rare cancer diagnosis

AT sweet 16, when all is good with you and the world, and suddenly you are injured following your favourite sport - it’s a setback, but not the end of the world.

But for Mia Dorney, life as she knew it changed that day.

“I was always involved in sports, and I fell at a football match, and I tore my calf,” says Mia, from Ballyvolane, who has two younger sisters and one younger brother.

“My knee was aching and, even after being to the physio, it was no better. It felt squishy, like there was fluid inside it.”

Little did Mia know that there was a tumour inside it.

“I kept moaning about being in pain,” says Mia.

Eventually, she went to the doctor.

“My knee was aching, and I was sweating. The doctor put it down to puberty and growing pains.”

Mia had other things to think about.

“I remember we were going on family holiday to Spain in July, 2019. Dad said he couldn’t be listening to me moaning when we were on holidays - so I went for an MRI scan on a Sunday, expecting the results back in two or three days’ time.

“The next morning, Monday, my GP rang and told me to go to A&E at the CUH where a team of doctors were waiting for me. I was diagnosed there and then with osteosarcoma.”

Osteosarcoma is a type of bone cancer that begins in the cells that form bones.

What was she thinking?

“It happened so fast, and I was so young, it didn’t really get a chance to sink in,” says Mia.

“But yes, it was scary. I just had to trust the doctors in that situation. They had a plan.”

Osteosarcoma is rare.

“The cancer affects 12 adolescents a year in Ireland,” says Mia. “Out of 12, one is a girl. It is rare for a girl to get Osteosarcoma.”

But Mia says she was lucky.

“Often, amputation happens with this type of cancer because the tumour can go into the main blood vessel in your leg. I was really lucky. I was 2mm away from that happening. My surgery was called limb salvage, where they took away half my femur and my knee joint and rebuilt them.”

So she’s like the bionic woman?

“That’s what my colleagues call me at Pepsi where I am an intern!” says Mia.

“Basically, I have a metal leg.”

Chemotherapy, surgery, and further chemotherapy afterwards was on the cards for the 16-year- old.

“I had 12 rounds of chemotherapy all together,” she says.

She was a schoolgirl at the time.

“I was in 5th year at St Aidan’s Dublin Hill,” says Mia. “I missed most of 5th year.”

Alan Molloy, at the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Cappagh, Dublin, performed the surgery. The hospital is at the forefront of orthopaedic and musculoskeletal medicine.

“I already had six months of chemotherapy in CUH,” says Mia.

“I had treatment three weeks in a row and then spent a week at home.”

The treatment was daunting for the teenager.

“I lost my hair. The surgery took place in October, 2019. It was an eight-hour operation.

My parents came to Dublin with me and stayed in a hotel. I remember taking photos of my leg before the operation. It was the last time I’d see it.”

Was she apprehensive?

“Not really,” says Mia.

“I wanted the cancer out of my body, and I put my trust in the doctors.” She trusted herself.

“The day after the operation, I was up and walking,” says Mia.

“I was young and fit. My leg was in a cast and, even though I could walk, I couldn’t go far. I had a special wheelchair which I used. My leg was stuck out straight for three months.

“With physio and hydrotherapy, I regained almost the full range of my leg. I was told I’d only have a 90% bend. So it was amazing to have so much more than 90%.

“In two years, I had the full range of my leg. I have bars down my shin and up my leg to hold everything in place.

“While I was learning to walk again, I had my bathroom modified and we got a stair-lift into the house.”

She had specialist care.

“The medical staff at Cappagh Hospital were so kind and so positive,” says Mia. “I was quite scared, but the nurses reassured me. Dr Molloy, my surgeon, was brilliant. Margaret Cavanagh, who is retired now from nursing, motivated me. I might want to stay in bed, she’d say, ‘no, come on, get up.’ And I did!”

At 21, everything is good in Mia’s world again.

“I was 21 last October and I had a huge celebration in my local pub!

“I’m in 4th year in college, studying business information systems, and I am an intern at Pepsi which I really enjoy.”

She’s on the up-and-up.

“I’m supposed to avoid running and team sports,” says Mia.

“I don’t have any synovial fluid in my leg, which acts as a shock absorber, but I swim, and I go to the gym.”

The world is her oyster.

“I’m going on holidays with my friends, I’m driving, which is great. When my leg was stuck out straight for three months, I couldn’t see that happening.”

Is Mia in any pain?

“I used to have some pain, but the physio and hydrotherapy helped with that,” says Mia.

“If I keep up the exercise, I have no pain. I do my stretches every morning.”

Life is good now for the 21-year- old.

“I get checked up every three months,” says Mia.

“If the cancer were to return, it would go to my lungs and other organs.

“My leg gets checked annually in Cappagh Hospital. All is well.”

It’s all in the past now.

“Yes, it’s all in the past now and I came out the other side. That’s all that matters.”

I wanted the cancer out of my body, and I put my trust in the doctors. The day after the operation I was up and walking.