01 Jul 2025

Clint hopes trial protocol will keep his AML in remission

New drugs and treatments for leukaemia are developed and trailed all the time, with many patients benefitting from receiving them under carefully monitored trial programmes. Clint Nield is on a trial which he hopes will keep his acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in remission. Clint first began experiencing what rapidly became the dramatic symptoms of the onset of his AML in October 2024.

“We’d just come back from a nice holiday in Bulgaria when I got a cough and cold that just wouldn’t go away,” said Clint, 45, who lives Burton

Clint with his wife Joanne

on Trent and works in retail. “I went on for three weeks by which time I was off work and so lacking in energy I was struggling to walk. At first I thought it was man flu! But it kept getting worse and worse. I called the doctor who at the last minute cancelled the face-to-face appointment but gave me some tablets for what they thought was a bad chest infection.

“But within the week I’d gone downhill. I could hardly move and my wife Joanne and mother-in-law eventually took me to the emergency doctor. He took one look at me and said he was worried I had sepsis and rang for an ambulance which we were told would be three to four hours waiting time. The doctor asked if my mother-in-law could drive us to hospital and if he could come with us as he was worried I would take a turn for the worse in the car. So we went like that to Burton Hospital with me just going in and out of consciousness by that point.

Clint during treatment

“We were taken in through a side entrance, I was put in a bed and then all the tests started. I just felt really out of it. After a couple of hours the consultant, along with nurses and other medical staff, appeared at the bottom of my bed. I knew then it was really serious. They said they thought I had leukaemia.

“My immediate reaction was to think they must be wrong. One moment I had flu and the next I was told I had cancer and was fighting for my life. The doctor told me if I hadn’t gone to the doctor when I did then I wouldn’t have seen Christmas. I was devastated, watching my wife and mother-in-law break down into tears I genuinely felt scared and my time was up.”

Clint was transferred to the Royal Derby Hospital where treatment started within the hour. Further tests were carried out and on Thursday 17th October Clint was told he had acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Tests showed his white blood cell count was around 300 whereas it should have been around 10.

“They started chemotherapy the next day and I can’t even remember most of the next few weeks. It was really rough. I was so ill and fragile by the time I got to hospital it hit me hard. I was constantly sick and told I was going to intensive care multiple times, although somehow I always managed to avoid it. I had repeated infections and lost two stone during that first month of being in hospital.”

Clint was allowed home for a few weeks and then went back into hospital for each of the next two cycles of chemotherapy which proved to be much easier for him.

“Two weeks into my first round I hit a point where I felt so depressed. The treatment was so awful and I didn’t know how I would get any better. I asked them for a chart to show any improvements and they made one to log my neutrophils every day. Seeing them improve really helped me and gave me the strength to carry on. The second round was so much better. During the third cycle getting my neutrophils up took a lot longer so what was supposed to take three weeks ended up taking over a month and I went home in mid-March.”

Clint during chemotherapy

However, during the third cycle Clint had another unexpected setback.

“I got up one morning and went to the toilet, started to feel dizzy and then woke up on the bathroom floor. I pulled the emergency cord and the cavalry arrived. They sent me for a CT scan as I’d banged my head, which was clear, but I’d also rolled my ankle when I fainted and fractured one of the bones. So from being the youngest and most independent person on the ward I was bed bound for the last two weeks of my treatment.”

Moving around again on crutches, Clint built up his strength for his final round of chemotherapy in April, which it’s hoped will be his last.

“The doctors say I’m in remission and I’m hoping that’s the way it will stay. I will be on Midostaurin at home for the next 12 months and they’re trying to get me onto a trial being run by the Hammersmith Hospital in London. I will go into the Royal Derby Hospital once every three months for a routine bone marrow biopsy. They will also send a sample to trial being run by a hospital in London to be analysed and the information sent back to Derby to track the very early development of any cancerous cells. The trial will last for two years.”

In leukaemia, being ‘in remission’ means that the signs and symptoms have reduced or disappeared, blood counts have returned to normal, and the bone marrow no longer shows active disease. Doctors will then continue to monitor for minimal residual disease (MRD) which will flag up any leukaemia cells that remain deeper and more hidden in the body.

“My life has been a yo-yo since first being diagnosed. I have lost and then gained weight each time I’ve been in hospital due to not eating with a poor appetite. One good thing is I have been so lucky with my job with a toy retailer. I only started three months before I became ill but they’ve kept me on full pay and have been incredibly supportive.

Clint in hospital with his wife, daughter Cora and her boyfriend

“It has massively impacted my life. I’m unable to walk long distances and my general health has been poor whilst recovering outside the hospital. This has put extreme pressure on my family, my wife Joanne and daughter Cora, however, they have been my rock. I don’t know where I’d be without them, Joanne visited me every day in hospital which helped me so much as I found the isolation so difficult. These have been my darkest days but they’ve been there for me.

“I never look too far forward now and treat each day as a blessing for still being here. I cannot plan my future right now not knowing if AML will come back and I will need further treatment. My dream was to be able to buy my first home in 2024 – we had a deposit and had been to the bank and they had said as I’d only been in my current job three months I needed to work a full six months then come back to them. Literally two weeks later I was in hospital. But I’m hoping we get the opportunity this year to become homeowners for the first time and I can get back to full fitness and to work.

“I just hope and pray that my AML does not come back after the final round of treatment and I can move forward with my life.”

Blood cancer survival odds could be ‘doubled’ as bone marrow test trial is a success | The Independent