A mum-of-three who thought she had overcome cancer was given a devastating new diagnosis more than a year later.
Kate Walker, a mum-of-three, was first diagnosed with breast cancer while studying for her masters degree in May 2021. The 44-year-old thought she was in the clear after doctors told her the cancer was "small, early stage and curable" .
She restarted her studies and even began a new job, the Liverpool ECHO reports.
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Yet in November, Kate received the devastating news that her cancer had returned and was now incurable, having spread to her lungs and liver.
Kate, from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, said: "You go into a room and they tell you and it was almost like an out of body experience. You think, ‘how can this be?
"I had gone from having a cancer that was classed as small, early stage and curable and then all of a sudden I have gone through chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery and it’s come back.
"I had just accepted my invitation to graduation when I found out the cancer had returned and was incurable."
Kate's cancer can be managed with treatment though she will be living with it for the rest of her life. Despite the shattering diagnosis, she said she is focusing "on the positives," and is still working towards her "biggest" goals.
One of which she has just completed, when she graduated from Liverpool Hope University just days ago, collecting her MA in Social Work at the university's winter graduation ceremony. She had also thrown herself into new role as a social worker with her local council.
She said: "I have just got to focus on the positives, like my job and my family and take each day as it comes. To have done a degree and a masters to become a social worker was my biggest goal, so to have done that does just feel epic.
"I am incredibly proud of myself. After everything I have been through and everything I am still going through, to have graduated feels epic. Having this job to focus on has helped and because the chemotherapy has reduced my symptoms, things have improved.
"Now I am doing something I love. No two days are the same. I love working with children and the team at Cheshire West are fantastic.
"I finally feel like I am doing something meaningful."
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