A mum-of-three is 'determined to fight' after being diagnosed with cancer for the fifth time.
Former teaching assistant Tracey Hope, from Aintree, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014. She is currently receiving treatment for her fifth different cancer diagnosis, having also suffered a stroke and from cirrhosis of the liver in recent years.
Tracey, 54, is married to husband John and is mum to twins Abbie and James, 15, and Connor, 21, who is in the army. She spoke to the ECHO about her battle with cancer and how she remains positive.
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About her first diagnosis, she said: "It was the summer holidays in 2014 so I was off school at that time. I noticed that I did have an inverted nipple so I took myself to the doctors. I got referred within two weeks and the tests came back that I did have breast cancer.
"I was then going to be sent for a mastectomy within two weeks but during that time, I had a stroke. That delayed my operation by six weeks.
"Then I had the mastectomy but I had to keep going back to get checks. But within the time of going back to be checked, I’d already found a lump in the other breast.
"So, that November, I had my second mastectomy. That was a hormone cancer - a different cancer altogether from the first one."
Tracey then began five years of treatment for the hormone cancer. Her treatment was going to plan until November 2016, when she felt another lump - this time in her right armpit.
She then had a lumpectomy to remove the cancer, which was followed by three weeks of radiotherapy. In September 2018, she was diagnosed with primary biliary cirrhosis of the liver due to the medication she was taking.
Just over 12 months later, Tracey found another lump in her armpit. This meant she was diagnosed with stage three triple negative cancer.
About this, she said: "At this point, Connor was based away, so we had to go there to tell him that I had cancer again. That wasn’t very nice, but I didn’t want to tell him over the phone, he was 17 or 18 at the time.
"I came home and at the time, I had 15 months of chemotherapy. I had two different chemotherapies, the first one didn’t work - the lump started growing back again."
As a result, Tracey was then placed on a new type of chemotherapy, but it was not working. She then had an operation followed by three weeks of radiotherapy, which kept the cancer at bay.
In September 2021, Tracey was told she had stable disease - meaning she will always live with cancer, but it would be monitored for changes. This takes the form of scans at the Marina Dalglish Centre in Aintree every few months.
The following April, one of these scans found three nodules in Tracey's lungs, meaning she had lung cancer. She began chemotherapy again in August 2022.
At this point, Tracey's cancer was classed as metastatic, meaning it had spread from where it started to a distant part of the body. However, chemotherapy stopped working around Christmas and the lung cancer worsened.
Tracey was told the lymph nodes had worsened and more nodules were found in her lungs. About three weeks ago, she began a new treatment called Trodelvy at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool.
She is on a three week cycle with the treatment, which will keep going until she has her next scan. There is currently no end date for her treatment.
Through an incredibly difficult journey, Tracey said she has relied on the support from her family. However, it has not been easy with Connor's work taking him abroad.
She said: "James and Abbie were only seven when I was first diagnosed, it’s something they’ve lived with for most of their lives. I come home and I say ‘I’ve got it again, it’s back again’ and they just go ‘ok, we can deal with this and on we go’.
"John is my rock, he’s there all the time. Connor got married last year, so he has a wife whose name is Abby. He has got someone over there, but it is very tough."
The new treatment led to Tracey's hair falling out. Over the weekend, daughter Abbie shaved her head, which was filmed in a Facebook Live video.
Tracey posts about her journey on Facebook so Connor can keep up with progress and to show others going through a similar situation that they are not alone. About this, she said: "I’ve been through it before and I will do it again.
"I’m quite a positive person, so every time something goes on, I want my family and friends to know, so I put it on Facebook. And if anyone else is going through the same thing, I try to show where I’m up to and where I’m going with it.
"I want to tell people that they can get through this, if you have family friends behind you and with the help of the nurses and doctors that we have. You just keep going as long as you can keep going.
"I’d say to people - just try to be positive. It is what it is, that’s my motto. You can’t do anything about it, you just go with it. With the help of the nurses and the doctors in the hospital, they’ll get you through it as best they can."
Tracey can count on the support of her family as she continues to fight. John has written diary entries throughout her journey.
A recent entry, which he shared with the ECHO, said: "I am so proud and lucky to have Tracey not only as my wife but my soul mate and an amazing mum putting everyone before her. She is the most caring, selfless, loyal and honest person I know. She is so strong and is determined to fight this battle."
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