Cervical cancer campaigner Vicky Phelan has said the thought of getting home is keeping her going as she admitted missing her kids while undergoing cancer treatment in the US.

The Limerick mum has undergone six rounds of treatment since she travelled to Maryland in January as part of an experimental drugs trial.

She faced a difficult goodbye when she told everyone, including beloved daughter Amelia and son Darragh, she would be away for six months to take part in a clinical trial when she knew she was leaving for a year.

Last week, Phelan said that her family had “forgiven” her after she revealed she “lied to” them but explained that she lied as much to herself as she did to everyone else as she struggled with the idea of leaving her family for a year.

Updating her progress on Instagram she wrote: “When we were finished dealing with my immediate situation and agreed on my treatment plan today (I am still only getting half the dose today) then I broached the subject of me going home in the summer to see my kids and my family and friends.

“I got very upset as I was talking about how much I miss my kids and how I need to see them. My poor doctor didn’t know where to look! His response was exactly what I need to hear right now.

“He told me that he will definitely get me home for at least a month in the summer to see my kids. I really, really needed to hear that today. I have been struggling over the past 2-3 weeks because I could not see an end in sight or countdown to a specific date in the future when I would see my kids again.

“At least now I know that I will be heading home sometime in July which is only 9 weeks away. I can DO that.”

Before she headed off to the States, the campaigner spoke about her challenges with Ryan Tubridy on The Late Late Show.

She told how she had been using an experimental drug called Pembro to help battle her cancer but it had stopped working and her cancer had started to spread.

Speaking on the RTÉ show Vicky said: “I’m going on my own for a minimum of six months.

“It’s tough. Having to leave the kids is going to be big.

Vicky explained on the show that she will know whether the treatment is working within two months.

She also explained that while she will find it tough being away from her kids she knows that if it works she will get to spend more time with them.

Speaking with Ryan, the Cervical Check campaigner explained: “Even though I don’t want to be away from my kids, I’m torn.

“For me, the way I look at it is I’m very rational and scientific and that’s the way I have had to be and the way I cope with things.

“I rationalise things by saying, ‘It’s short-term pain for long-term gain’. If this trial works, I get more time with my kids.

“They understand it, I’ve been very open and honest with my kids from the very beginning.”

She also said that she gets “upset” thinking about leaving her family in Ireland as she scared she’s “not coming back”.

Vicky continued: “I’m the type of person that will try something else, I’ve responded so well to immunotherapy that for me, it’s worth a shot.

“If it doesn’t work Ryan, I have no regrets. What I’m scared of most is not coming back or coming back in a coffin.

“That’s why I’m getting upset about leaving because you don’t know if I’m going to come back, that is the worry.”

Also on the show Vicky spoke about the past year with Covid-19 and she admitted that the year helped slow everything down for her.

She explained: “It has been a rough year for everybody I think to be quite honest, but for me, things actually slowed down a bit.

“When Covid hit back in March when we really felt the presence of it in Ireland, I had so much lined up for March because it was International Women’s Day, I had loads of talks lined up and I just had to cancel everything.

“For me, I realised, ‘I have to slow down here’, I was exhausted, I slept quite a lot. It made me re-evaluate the importance of my condition and spending time with people I love.”

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