A mother, who was in the process of planning her own funeral following her terminal cancer diagnosis, was given a second chance at life after medics gave her the all-clear.
Tasha Thor-Straten, 49, was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer in January 2017.
One minute, she was settling into her new home in Essex with her fiancé Russ Parker, 47, and their blended family of five children.
The next she was facing death, Essex Live reports.
Following her diagnosis, Tasha asked fellow cancer fighter, Dame Deborah James, for advice.
Talking about her life-changing news, Tasha said: “I can’t describe the feeling when someone tells you that you have a terminal illness. I was only 44, with young kids and a new relationship and suddenly the rug was being pulled from under my feet.
“I feel incredibly lucky to still be here today, which is why I now work as a life coach helping other cancer patients to understand things like how their diet can improve their health during treatment.”
Tasha admits she ignored warning indications that something was wrong with her bowel. She was called in for her results two weeks after her colonoscopy in January 2017 where they also told her it had spread to her lungs and offered her palliative care.
She said: “It was utterly shocking and devastating. It never occurred to me that my symptoms could be bowel cancer. I was fit, healthy and took care of my diet and there was no history of it in my family.
“To find out that not only was it cancer, but that I was going to die from it was almost too much to bear.”
Returning to the home where she should still have been unpacking and decorating, instead she started to plan her funeral. She said: “I just couldn’t believe this was happening to me.
"I was constantly in floods of tears and had some very emotional conversations with the kids.”
Things took an unexpected and very welcome turn for the better when Tasha returned to hospital for further results in February 2017. Told she had stage 3 cancer, because of her new results, she was eligible for invasive and potentially lifesaving surgery.
She said: “I went in for my operation on February 28. They cut out the part of my bowel where the cancer was, which was about a 35mm tumour and then they had to put my bowel back together again.
“When they were discussing the process with me, the surgeons warned that there was a high chance that they would need to fit a stoma bag during the operation, so I had to mentally prepare myself for it. But when I woke up afterwards, I discovered that they had not ended up needing to do so, which I was very relieved about.”
The surgery was a success and, following a few weeks of recovery, Tasha started chemotherapy. She said: “I didn’t cope well with the first couple of rounds of chemotherapy, so my doctors extended the length of time in between to give my body more time to recover.
“Still, my side effects were severe, including extreme tiredness, sadness, nerve pain and a negative reaction to sunlight and the cold.” She added: “By August 2017, I was making progress and I was told I had the option to either continue with chemo or stop treatment.
“Studies had shown that patients who have this treatment after the surgery I’ve had, have experienced the same results whether they’ve had four or eight rounds of chemo, so I made the decision to stop after four.” In August 2017, Tasha was officially given the all-clear from cancer.
She said: “It felt like the day I got my life back and I wanted to be able to help other people who were going through cancer diagnoses.”
So, in 2020, Tasha retrained to become a life coach.
She added: “I now run a company called Let’s Make Time, which focuses on helping people manage life-changing illnesses like cancer.
“Although I considered myself to be fit and healthy at the time of my diagnosis, my diet has been tweaked since then.
"I can no longer digest red meat and processed foods. I also steer clear of beans and regularly visit a homeopath and look for ways to improve my gut health. This is something I help other people with too."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
