Meet Martina
My name is Martina Warner. I'm 49 years old. I am a mother of three and I live with my partner.
Diagnosis
In 2019, I was diagnosed with breast cancer cells. And unfortunately, I was diagnosed with the worst strain of the breast cancers, which is a triple negative breast cancer.
I'd finished my treatment, which consisted of the chemotherapy, then radiotherapy. And then about 18 months later, I started getting symptoms again. My Nurse booked me in for an MRI and CT scan, which revealed that I had a tumour in my lung and liver. My next treatment was going to be intravenous chemotherapy. It was that time that I decided to seek a second opinion.
My doctor suggested I join a Facebook group specifically for triple negative breast cancer. I found a wealth of information from a lot of the patients there, as opposed to the oncologists themselves.
I met a lady who was on a trial drug. I'd never heard of trial drugs before. I put forward my diagnosis to her, and she said, look, there were trials going on at Barts. She strongly recommended that I consider them. I call her my guardian angel. Unfortunately, she's no longer with us, but because of her, this is why I'm still here. Because I made that decision to go ahead with the trial drug.
Watch Martina tell her story in the video below
[VIDEO]
Translated versions:
I'm still here. Because I made that decision to go ahead with the trial drug.
Taking part in clinical trials
I was given hard core facts and reality. But it's a risk that I wanted to take because I was at my tether. I was desperate because I could literally feel myself dying.
I had agreed after the consultation to go ahead with the trial, but I had to be fit enough to then start the trial. This is going to sound really bizarre, but I was just elated and jumping for joy. Nobody wants to be on chemotherapy.
It was all about survival. I was given the right information by the professor. They answered all my questions. I did my research with a clinical nurse, and they said trial drugs are actually monitored much more closely than your bog standard, licensed chemotherapy drug so, I felt safe and confident.
And I don't think I would be here had I not taken that up.
Clinical trials is something that I would strongly encourage because I'm living proof, you know, that these things work for a period of time. It gave me two years of life and so I strongly encourage our communities, ethnic minorities to give it a go.
I'd like to see more of our community involved, in trial drugs and to encourage us to be more involved.
