Two years ago, Christian Galea spent his lucky birthday alone in hospital because, as the coronavirus pandemic hit Malta, he was undergoing immunotherapy to rid his body of cancerous cells before heading to the UK for a bone marrow transplant. 

His mother, Dorianne, sent a birthday cake which he shared with doctors and nurses since relatives and friends were not allowed to visit him during the three months he was in hospital.

The stakes were too high. His immune system was too weak to risk contracting the dreaded, and then novel, COVID-19.

This was one of the hardest times of his three-year battle with cancer.

Sitting in the living room of his Naxxar home, with his mother beside him, Christian recounts how the symptoms started in 2018.

He was preparing to return home after spending a year as a researcher in France, a post he got after completing his doctorate in IT.

He started getting tired but blamed it on travel preparations.

On his return, he kept feeling tired and noticed a swollen lymph node in his neck. He went to various doctors and consultants and carried out several tests. But there was nothing.

“I was a bit unconvinced as I kept feeling unusually tired and it was getting worse,” he says.

As time passed, symptoms increased.

He started losing weight due to loss of appetite and was struggling with basic tasks. He had more swollen lymph nodes and started suffering from night sweats, he felt cold and shivered violently in the summer heat, got fever and dizzy spells.

Finally, he went to a consultant who recommended another two biopsies – after the first four were inconclusive. They took samples from his bone marrow and carried out an operation to remove a lymph node from his groin.

Finally, they had a diagnosis... Christian had Hodgkin Lymphoma, an uncommon cancer that develops in the lymphatic system, which is a network of vessels and glands spread throughout the body.

It had spread, as some six months had passed since his first hospital visit in February 2019.

“I had a lot of ups and down. Mostly downs. Until I was diagnosed, I knew there was something wrong and did not know what. The unknown was very disturbing,” he says.

Christian started chemotherapy. His final round of treatment was in December 2019  but, a few weeks later, he learned the cancer had returned.

The first line of chemo had not worked and he was told he needed a bone marrow transplant. It eventually turned out that he could not use his own bone marrow but needed a donor.

Meanwhile, in March 2020, the pandemic struck. Before he could go to the UK for the transplant, he had to undergo immunotherapy to clear his body from the cancer.

“That was the most traumatic part of it all,” his mother says.

“He spent his lucky birthday alone... this was something we were looking forward for a lifetime and he had to spend it alone in hospital.”

Christian adds: “I was in hospital with not much hope at this point.”

He tried to keep his mind occupied and developed an IT programme to monitor his blood tests and medication.

He spent his lucky birthday alone... this was something we were looking forward for a lifetime and he had to spend it alone in hospital

Then, in May 2020, he was discharged. But, before he could go to the UK, he had to spend at least one month without treatment.

“During that time I was really afraid. There were certain long-term decisions I was not taking, like signing up to a one-year subscription to watch Formula One races,” he says.

Things worked out and, eventually, in November 2020, he left to the UK for the transplant. His mother travelled with him while his father, Romain, remained in Malta with Christian’s 19-year-old sister, Marietta.

Christian spent five weeks in hospital while his mother stayed in one of the apartments owned by Puttinu Cares Foundation, 10 minutes away from the Royal Marsden Hospital, in Sutton.

“We knew nothing and had no idea what we would find and do… that’s where Puttinu comes in,” Dorianne says.

“The disease puts your life on pause and makes you emotionally and psychologically vulnerable. You have enough things to worry about.

“Puttinu gave us peace of mind. While at the apartment you get a sense of belonging and feel that, in this journey, you are not alone. Those apartments are a jewel... a home away from home,” she says, adding that she ended up helping the caretaker and welcoming new families as she “laid down roots there”.

What was meant to be a four- to-six-month stay in the UK became a 14-month stay due to complications. 

After the transplant, Christian had to wait for the donor blood to take over.

“I was A- and now I’m B+ and have to retake all the jabs I took when I was a baby as they were all lost,” he says.

During the treatment he also had to give up eating certain foods – like cream cheese. Being a vegetarian, his menu was already limited but his mother came up with recipes replacing banned ingredients with others.

They returned to Malta in December 2021. Christian, who turns 31 on April 29, is now in remission.

“It does change you. I am in remission but I worry. It might come back. I don’t really know, so I just have to enjoy the moment. I am trying to enjoy life a bit more now,” he says.

He shared his story to raise awareness about the stellar work of Puttinu ahead of the televised fundraising marathon to be held on Good Friday, April 15.

Between 60 and 90 patients travel to the UK for treatment every month. They stay at one of the 20 apartments Puttinu Cares owns in Sutton.

As the rate of patients travelling is on the increase, Puttinu aims to raise more funds to be able to buy a new building in central London with the intention of securing a further 21 flats which will be available free of charge for the patients and their relatives who visit hospitals in the English capital.

Anyone who wishes to donate can visit: https://puttinucares.org/ your-donation/.