Julie Blackburn, 53, who lives in Bishopthorpe, was first diagnosed with breast cancer ten years ago in February 2015, after finding a lump while in the shower.
Julie, who is community and events manager at YO1 Radio, said: “I was 43 and my son Henry was just three years old.
"Within two weeks of going to my GP, I was told the lump I’d found was cancerous and I was booked in for surgery. I had a mastectomy and reconstruction, as well as three weeks of radiotherapy.
“Despite the shock of getting a diagnosis, everything went well and I began taking the hormone therapy drug Tamoxifen and just needed check-ups every 6 months. I thought that was the end of it and I was grateful to have put cancer behind me.”
Sadly though in 2018, Julie’s world was turned upside down after she felt a change in her other breast.
Julie was diagnosed with stage 4 secondary breast cancer, but this time she was told that the cancer was incurable.
Julie said: “This was a new, unrelated cancer, but it had already spread and was in my lymph nodes and my bones. I had a mastectomy of my remaining breast, but it was already too late to stop the cancer, and I was told my life expectancy was about two years.
“I was absolutely devastated and had some very dark days. I started to make preparations for my son, and wrote him letters for each milestone in his life. But I made a decision, that I wanted to live for the day and, despite my bleak prognosis, to live as best as I could for as long as I could.”
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