Gillian Docherty and husband Andy and baby son Frederick
By Lucy Ashton
A cystic fibrosis (CF) patient who believes she was living on borrowed time, has told of the miraculous change in her life after staff at the QEUH got her on a trial for ‘miracle’ drug Kaftrio.
Within two weeks of taking the drug, which reverses the main symptoms of CF, Gillian Docherty, 36, saw her lung function increase from 38% up to 74%. Today, her lung function is over 80% and continues to improve.
The miraculous recovery has allowed her and her husband Andy, 35, to have a child which was something they could only ever have dreamed of. They welcomed Frederick into the world in December last year.
Cystic Fibrosis is a condition which causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive system. This causes lung infections and problems with digesting food. Eventually, without proper management, patients face a significantly shortened life expectancy and many also require lung transplants as there is no cure for the illness.
For dentist Gillian, this meant that despite living a very active lifestyle which helped keep the effects of CF at bay, eventually her health started to decline which involved frequent trips to the CF service based out of the QEUH in Glasgow.
Gillian said: “Being aged 33 and not being able to climb up a flight of stairs is not a position anyone would want to be in. I couldn’t even go to the cinema because people would complain about my coughing. I was severely underweight, constantly exhausted and just existing.”
Before being accepted onto the trial for Kaftrio in 2018, Gillian had already started getting her affairs in order to help support husband Andy. Starting a family was totally out of the question.
“I would never have been well enough to sustain a pregnancy. I was fighting illness all the time and I knew that even if we did have a child, it was very likely that I wouldn’t be there to help raise them. It was very much a personal decision which we had taken. We didn’t plan for a future as we wouldn’t have much of one.”
At the time, Gillian was taking upwards of 70 pills every day to keep the CF at bay and was regularly admitted to the QEUH to manage increasing infections and issues relating to the CF. Luckily in 2018 Gillian met the criteria for a clinical trial of the now approved drug Kaftrio which has effectively reversed the effects of the illness for her. On realising the almost immediate positive impact it was having on her health, Gillian said:
“It was utterly mind-blowing. Within three hours I could feel it working. That first night, I went to sleep and woke up seven hours later – something that hadn’t happened for years. Midnight coughing fits and waking up with chest pain were the norm for me. That first morning I slept through the night Andy and I just woke up and looked at each other, lost for words at how effective the drug was.”
Since then, as well as welcoming Frederick into the family, Gillian continues to build back up her strength and managed a dream trip to Australia just before the pandemic hit. Now, she and Andy are able to plan for the future – an alien concept three years ago.
The QEUH provides the CF service for the West of Scotland. Since Kaftrio was approved, more than 250 patients are now experiencing the life-changing benefits, which, coupled with ongoing care and treatment at the hospital, enables them to live full and normal lives.
Dr Gordon MacGregor, consultant physician at the QEUH and one of the team looking after Gillian, said: “We have a large expert team of staff delivering CF care within the QEUH and Kaftrio has really been a gamechanger in treating the patients for whom it is clinically appropriate. It helps keep them out of the hospital and enables them to live pretty normal lives, albeit they will always need a level of care from staff for their condition. It’s fantastic to see the impact it’s had on Gillian, who has gone from rapid deterioration and an uncertain future to having a family and bright days and years ahead.”
Gillian added: “I want to thank all of the staff who’ve helped me manage my condition over the years. The CF multidisciplinary team have become like family and have always been an advocate for me throughout my treatment.”