Tocumwal couple Pat and Trish DeLuca met in Melbourne more than 20 years ago and their story is one of strength and resilience.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
In June 2020, Pat was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and as a result of the cancer he developed Richter’s syndrome in December 2021, leaving him with a permanent vision impairment.
“The doctor said that the cancer had eaten the nerve lining behind his eyes and it was irreparable,” Trish said.
Pat was devastated, but the couple decided not to say anything until after Christmas for the sake of their granddaughter and the rest of the family.
“So we actually had to then go through Christmas without telling anybody because we didn’t want to ruin it,” Trish said.
Pat began chemotherapy in January the following year, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I got special permission to come and be with him because he was very depressed and down,” Trish said.
They were grateful when Melbourne doctors informed them Pat was a candidate for a stem cell transplant and he was “rapt” to find out his sister Mary was a perfect match.
“I thought she was going to ‘umm and ahh’, but she never gave it a second thought,” Pat said.
Mary’s healthy stem cells were used to replace Pat’s, essentially saving Pat’s life.
Unfortunately, Pat’s transplant resulted in significant side effects, which led him to experience hallucinations and paranoia.
“I had to sleep there for 16 nights to calm him down because he was looking for me, he wanted to go home to me all the time,” Trish said.
Eventually, doctors took Pat off those particular drugs and at Christmas 2022 they were able to return home for a few days.
The most precious gift of all came Christmas morning when Pat proposed to Trish under the Christmas tree.
“I had it all geared up with my granddaughter and I said when I propose to Nanny, I want you and me to get down on one knee each and we'll say together, ‘Nanny, will you marry me?’” Pat said.
“And she had this big bunch of flowers I bought. They were huge, so you could hardly see my granddaughter ... I then needed help getting up,” he added with a laugh.
In March 2023, Trish began feeling lethargic, so she went to see a doctor, believing she was just fatigued.
“I would get up in the morning and I couldn’t walk from here to the bathroom without feeling like I was ready to collapse and I couldn’t breathe properly,” she said.
Shockingly, Trish was also diagnosed with leukaemia — acute promyelocytic leukaemia — and was admitted to the same haematology ward at Royal Melbourne Hospital where Pat had already spent so much time.
“We had so many doctors, nurses and the social worker coming into my room dumbfounded and some crying as they couldn’t believe this was possible to have leukaemia, the two of us,” Trish said.
Trish was in the hospital for 37 days and said it nearly drove her insane.
“I felt well, but I wasn’t allowed to leave because I was having treatment every day ... my treatment was arsenic infusions every day,” she said.
However, they managed to keep their sense of humour.
“I kept telling everybody it was cyanide,” Pat said with a laugh.
“I couldn’t remember that word and I said ‘yeah, she’s having some cyanide’.”
Trish finished her treatment in November 2023. Meanwhile, Pat got COVID-19 again and became sick.
“It was the worst six weeks of my life,” Pat said.
He endured many painful lumbar punctures, but made it through with Trish by his side.
“She kept me going,” Pat said.
As the weeks went on, Trish and Pat were worried as they had plans to get married in December.
“We had been doing all the wedding things to keep us going that year, it was a distraction for us,” Trish said.
“We picked the date before me getting sick and booked everything in, so we had to go ahead.
“I kept saying to the doctors, you’re going to have 140 people in the corridor if you’re not careful ... and hesitantly, they said he could go, but he was to come back the next day.”
The couple got married in December 2023 at the Corowa Whiskey and Chocolate Factory, with family travelling from as far as Canada to attend.
“It was a beautiful wedding ... it was more a celebration that we were both still here,” Trish said.
This year they have received the best Christmas gift of all, with Trish’s doctor telling her she is “now considered cured”.
Pat is in remission and the couple is planning for the future, looking forward to Christmas with family and hoping to finally have a honeymoon next year.
Trish and Pat’s advice for people going through a similar experience is simple: “don't give up, and stay positive.”
They are incredibly grateful to the Leukaemia Foundation, which provided them with accommodation in Melbourne while they received treatment.
“Having that allowed us to concentrate on ourselves and each other,” Trish said.
“They have counsellors who come and speak to you ... they would give us some petrol vouchers if we were going home for a brief visit.”
Blood cancer is on track to become the leading cancer in Australia, with incidence and mortality increasing more than any other leading cancer in the past 20 years.
To help Australians living with blood cancer this Christmas, you can donate to the Leukaemia Foundation's Christmas Appeal at leukaemia.org.au or phone 1800 620 420.