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Life saving treatment gives
couple their dream day
A newly wed has thanked staff at the
Royal Liverpool University Hospital for making her dream day a reality after her
husband defied all odds by surviving a rare, life threatening blood disorder.
54 year old Catherine Fletcher married 60 year old Graham Stansfield in their
local registry office in Burnley; 16 months after Graham was diagnosed with TTP
and given a 10% chance of survival.
TTP, or Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, is a rare disease that affects
around 6 to 8 people per million per year. The condition affects blood
circulation, whereby little clots form in blood vessels throughout the body.
This can limit the flow of oxygen to vital organs such as the brain, kidneys and
heart, causing organ failure, brain damage and stroke. Because the disease is so
rare it can sometimes be misdiagnosed and failure to treat the problem can be
devastating.
If left untreated, 90% of patients with TTP would die. The quicker the condition
is diagnosed and treated, the greater the patient's chances of survival.
One evening Graham, a former bricklayer, started to feel extremely tired and
unwell after finishing work. Following a visit to his local GP, he was admitted
to Blackburn General Hospital, where consultants started to suspect he might
have the disease.
As 1 of only 2 official specialist TTP centres in the UK, Graham was rushed
to the Royal where a dedicated TTP team were ready and waiting for his arrival.
Consultant and TTP Specialist Centre lead Dr Tina Dutt was one of the team
waiting for Graham. She said:- "When Graham arrived he was very
distressed. He deteriorated very quickly and we had to inform his partner
Catherine of how serious his condition was. There is very little awareness of
TTP, but it is vital that the disorder is treated urgently."
Graham's now-wife Catherine said:- "Staff told me he had a 20% chance of
survival. Later I found out they were trying to remain positive and his chances
were closer to 10%.
He had 2 cardiac arrests during the first 48 hours of treatment; if he'd have
had a third he probably wouldn't have left the hospital alive."
To treat the disorder, Graham underwent plasma exchange daily during his time in
hospital. Plasma exchange is a procedure that removes and then replaces plasma
in the blood with new plasma and greatly improves the chances of survival
following a TTP attack.
Dr Dutt said:- "Despite treatment Graham's condition failed to improve. It
was not clear whether the TTP had affected Graham's kidney, heart and brain
function irreversibly, but Catherine and the specialist team remained positive.
Graham spent a significant time in Intensive Care and we used a drug treatment
only a handful of people in the UK have received. This treatment meant Graham
was finally allowed to leave the hospital.
We see him as a miracle patient and I'm very proud of the TTP team's work and
commitment, as well as the couple's resilience over the past 16 months."
Following lengthy treatment, Graham left the Royal 12 weeks after he was first
admitted. As a side effect of the disorder, Graham is now partially sighted and
partially deaf, as well as requiring follow up with the Stroke Consultant for
long term neuropsychological effects.
Graham now visits the Royal on an almost
weekly basis and the couple regularly find time to go and see the staff from the TTP centre.
The couple are even looking at moving to Liverpool to be closer to the Royal.
Catherine said:- "We visit Tina, TTP specialist nurse Clare Kay Jones and
the rest of the TTP team roughly once a month, but someone is always around if
we need them, whether that's a five minute chat between clinic appointments or a
phone call if we're ever worried about anything.
I don't see them as a group of people who care for Graham anymore as they're
more like friends now. We even received a card on our wedding day signed by the
staff, which was so thoughtful."
Catherine and Graham married in August close to their home in Burnley; the same
day as Graham's 60th birthday. Catherine said:- "It was a small service,
with a few close friends and family. We had to put our honeymoon off for a few
weeks as we had rather a lot of appointments at the Royal. You could say our
first honeymoon was in Liverpool!
We didn't want the wedding to be anything big, but if it wasn't for the
treatment Graham received last year, I don't think we'd would both be here to
celebrate at all."
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