'I kept making excuses - then on the flight home I something was wrong'
The penny dropped for Liz Bates
Having finally been given the all-clear from leukaemia, Liz Bates thought she was safe and out of the woods. The gran had endured three years of gruelling treatment after being given just a 40 per cent chance of survival.
The brutal battle left the 63-year-old in intensive care after the chemotherapy caused renal and respiratory failure.
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But Liz had survived the traumatising ordeal and tried to return to life as normal after being declared cancer-free.
That was until 2022 when the gran-of-four went for a routine mammogram just before Christmas.
Despite showing no symptoms, Liz made sure never to miss screenings due to her high risk of developing a second cancer.
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During the appointment, a medic asked if she had suffered any trauma to her breast. The gran told them her grandchild had kicked her there by accident recently.
The doctor mentioned she might need to come in if any internal bruising was found, so when Liz received a recall appointment, she didnât think much of it.
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But the former NHS senior manager got the shock her life when further testing revealed a lump â later going on to be diagnosed with breast cancer.
"I had no symptoms,â Liz, from St Helens, told the Manchester Evening News.
âI regularly examine myself because one of the long-term side effects of chemo for leukaemia is a higher risk of developing a second cancer. I never missed screening appointments.
â
âI went for the mammogram and was told I wouldnât hear anything until the New Year. They asked if I had any trauma to my breast.
âI said I was playing with my grandkids and one kicked me in the boob. They said if you have internal bruising, they might call you for a recall.
âSo when I got an appointment for a recall, it didnât bother me at all. They diagnosed a lump there and then â had a biopsy there and then.
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âIt was difficult because, at the back of your mind, you always fear the worst. Part of my brain was saying, the likelihood of it being cancer is tiny.
âThe other part was saying, youâve had cancer, youâre at more risk. Theyâve called you back. There must be something. I was half expecting it, but it was still a shock.â
Doctors said the lump was small and had been caught early, meaning Liz would only need a lumpectomy to remove it.
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But further tests revealed it had spread to her lymph nodes. A second surgery followed, removing all the lymph nodes under her arm, and doctors again reassured her it likely hadnât spread.
But results showed otherwise. Out of the 26 or 28 lymph nodes removed, 24 contained cancer.
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It meant just over three months of chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy, and although the process was longer than expected, Liz had managed to remove cancer from her body for the second time.
Now in remission, Liz still goes for annual checks and has one final infusion left. âThey said they had caught it so early, it was unlikely to be a problem,â she told the MEN.
âI would need a lumpectomy and hopefully that would be all. It was unlikely Iâd need chemo. But the results came back and it had spread to a lymph node.
â
âI needed to go for a second surgery to have the rest of the lymph nodes removed under my arm, but it was unlikely it had spread.
âAfter my second surgery â out of 26 or 28 lymph nodes, 24 of them had cancer in them.
âI had a full course of radiotherapy. It was completely removed. Iâm in remission now; itâs all gone.â
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Liz can recall the weeks leading up to her first diagnosis. Though she was given the news in 2006, the gran started experiencing symptoms the Christmas before in 2005.
âI had just been feeling a bit rough â colds, general winter ailments,â she told the MEN. âFrom the New Year onwards, I was starting to feel worse and worse.
âBut we had a dog, and I was throwing a ball with the dog, so I thought I had pulled my shoulder.
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âI had a cough I couldnât get rid of, but it was winter, so everyone had a cough they couldnât get rid of.
âI was tired constantly, but my job entailed me travelling up and down the country, so I thought I was just tired. I was rationalising everything.â
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Liz visited her doctor time and time again and was repeatedly given courses of antibiotics.
But nothing seemed to help, leading the gran to believe her illness was viral.
Her variety of symptoms worsened during a holiday to Fuerteventura where Liz began shivering and struggling to sleep.
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âI was shivering a lot, so I thought I had sunstroke,â she added. âI couldnât get warm or cold. I couldnât eat or sleep, spent all day on the sunbed in the shade, not doing anything.â
Liz knew she needed to get answers when she noticed she had a rash on the plane home.
âAt the airport, I was sick three times,â she said. âI felt rough as anything. On the plane, I suddenly noticed I had this rash. It was very much like a meningitis rash. I touched it and it wouldnât go.
â
âI used to work in the NHS, so I knew the signs and symptoms. I thought, Itâs not meningitis, but itâs also serious.â
Liz was picked up at the airport and taken straight to A&E. At hospital, a blood test was carried out which showed the gran had a high white blood cell count.
Sadly, she was later diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), a fast-growing cancer of the white blood cells, affecting the bone marrow and blood.
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ALL is most common in children but can also occur in adults, requiring urgent treatment like chemotherapy, targeted therapy or stem cell transplants.
âI had no inkling at all, but if I had, I would have done something about it,â Liz said. âItâs one of those things â because I worked in the NHS, I didnât want to waste peopleâs time.
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âThe likelihood was it wasnât going to be anything serious. As soon as they told me my white cell count was very high, I knew it was something serious.
âMy first instinct was that it was leukaemia. I didnât know what type, but that was my first indication.â
Liz says she didnât want to know anything about her illness following her diagnosis. âIâm a very positive person, and Iâm also someone who likes to know the facts,â she added.
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âIf youâd asked me before my diagnosis, I would have said Iâd want every single bit of information I could get on the disease.
âAs soon as I was diagnosed, I didnât want anything. No information. They gave me a leaflet, and I put it in my bedside cabinet in the hospital. I didnât want to know or read anything about it.â
With just a 40 per cent chance of survival, Liz underwent treatment at Salford Royal Hospital before being transferred to The Christie.
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Liz says she now feels âgratefulâ she was able to have treatment at the cancer hospital.
âItâs a strange one,â she said. âSo many people say when they had cancer that it changed them.
âThat they grasp life and all that â and I donât think I have. I think I have a tendency to take things in my stride.
â
âMy sister had Parkinsonâs and sadly died. It was a very severe form. When I look at her life and the impact that disease had on her, cancer was nothing.
âI knew the likelihood was that I was going to survive and be able to live a relatively normal life. That wasnât an option for my sister.â
Liz is now praising the hospitals MyChristie-MyHealth service for improving her cancer care.
Article continues belowThe electronic patient-reported outcome measures (ePROMs) system, funded by The Christie Charity, allows patients to complete online questionnaires between appointments, helping clinicians monitor symptoms and adjust treatment more effectively.
Since launching in 2019, over 25,000 patients have completed 70,000+ forms, covering various cancers and treatments.
âI think Iâm grateful when I look back,â Liz said. âIâm grateful that I live in an area where I can go to The Christie.â
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