A woman has been told she is now cancer-free 15 years after doctors told her she had three months left to live.
Darina Eyre, 62, battled against the disease in her bowel, liver and lung and was even a day patient at a hospice. In 2004, she was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer and underwent surgery and chemotherapy.
Doctors informed her that the cancer spread to her bloodstream and ran the risk of returning. She was then diagnosed with liver cancer four years later that was supposed to be so advanced that she only had three to six months to live.
Read more: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community
A cancerous lump was also found in Darina's lung which resulted in another operation to remove it. However, 19 years after her first diagnosis, doctors told Darina that she's finally cancer free.
Darina said: "I can't even describe the relief when the doctors said 'Darina we are discharging you.' After the last surgery, we were all relieved but were very skeptical.
"Finally after 19 years, I was able to ring my family and tell them I have been discharged completely. They've said touch wood that the cancer won't return."
When Darina began showing symptoms of bowel cancer, doctors initially brushed it off to her bad diet. However, the tumours burst and the cancer spread into her bloodstream.
Darina, of Barrowford, Lancashire, said: "As a family, we were so heartbroken and angry when I was first diagnosed because I had been to the doctors every few months. They just said I had a bad diet but it wasn't, because I never had a bad diet.
"I wasn't eating how I am now, which is very mindfully, but I was still eating well. Now I'm always telling people if they have any symptoms of bowel cancer, to not ignore them and go to the doctors as soon as possible as it could be avoided.
"They do the surgery which is tough but it's okay in the end if it's not a late diagnosis."
She added: "I was diagnosed on December 5 so shortly before Christmas and my daughter was expecting my granddaughter in three weeks. I knew that Christmas would be very difficult so I decided to keep it quiet which was really difficult.
"My daughter had been gifted some little shoes and she asked me to hang them on the Christmas tree. That was the most difficult moment of my life because my hands were absolutely clammy and shaking and I didn't know how I was going to do it.
"I was worried that I would have to tell her how poorly I was but I managed to hang it on the Christmas tree. When my granddaughter was born and I was holding her, I swore that I would be here for her until I'm an old granny.
"I was determined. The relationship I have with her now is absolutely amazing, she calls me her partner in crime and we do a lot of things like go on holidays together.
"Every time I look at her, she's a reminder that everything is in our head and we can decide to keep fighting."
Darina extender her thanks to Pendleside Hospice who she said did 'an absolutely fantastic job' for its patients. "A Macmillan nurse suggested the hospice and said it was a fantastic place.
"But when I heard the word 'hospice', I absolutely panicked at the word. That was the one time that I was really panicking.
"But I kept going there for coffee and to talk to people and to have therapy. They do an absolutely fantastic job and when I was there, I wasn't reminded about what was going on.
"I will be forever grateful for the days that I spent there."
Read next:
- Pervert arrested at NURSERY where he worked as a cook after he was caught sending sick messages to 'girls'
- Two new Manchester restaurants up for gongs at prestigious national awards
- CCTV images show man wanted for 'performing sex act' in front of woman sat in car
- Moment masked robbers took young girls, 7 and 12, hostage with knives and threatened to “kill” boy before ransacking home
- Doer-upper house with 'huge potential' in one of Greater Manchester's most sought-after areas goes on market for just £160,000
