A grandmother-of-four who has been diagnosed with four different types of cancer in the last 40 years says she feels “lucky to be alive”. Susan Gasson, 75, has been treated since the 1980s for breast, cervical, thyroid, and lung cancer. She said: “I feel lucky to still be here. I’m lucky to be alive.”
Susan’s first diagnosis came in her early 30s, when she discovered a pea-sized lump in her right breast. Doctors at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust carried out a lumpectomy operation to remove the cancer and some surrounding breast tissue, and she required no further treatment. She said: “It was pea-sized, and it was described to me that when they did the lumpectomy, they found a mass of them. I was told it was a bit like porridge — lots of very tiny lumps.”
Her second diagnosis came after Susan experienced heavy periods. She was told she was anaemic, caused by a lack of iron, and doctors diagnosed her with fibroids — non-cancerous growths which develop in or around the womb.
She had a hysterectomy, a surgical procedure to remove the womb, at Watford General Hospital 1985-6, which led doctors to discover she had pre-cancerous cells. Susan said: “That was a cervical cancer, but they got it all out.
“I was worried because of my young children, and I was going through a divorce, at that time, as well, from my first husband. It was all very stressful and traumatic, but I try not to dwell on these things.”
Theatre-lover Susan credits her positive mindset for helping her through her second cancer diagnosis and said taking care of her children was a good distraction at the time.
Her loved ones have also been struck by cancer. Susan’s father died of oesophageal cancer and her mother was receiving treatment for thyroid cancer around the time when Susan noticed another lump.
She said: “I discovered I had a lump in my neck, the same way [my mother] had. It was like a small egg.” Although initially thought to be related to the carotid artery in her neck, Susan was later diagnosed with thyroid cancer and had an appointment at the Marsden in July 1996.
She was referred for surgery at the hospital’s Chelsea site, before receiving radiotherapy at the Sutton site. She added: “It turned out it was thyroid cancer, so they removed my thyroid.”
Her most recent cancer diagnosis in 2020 started with a cough which “wouldn’t go” and “felt like a tickle”. She added: “I didn’t feel it was coming from my lungs at all at the time.”
Her GP referred her for an X-ray, which revealed an abnormal mass, and she later had an appointment at the Marsden in October 2020, leading to an official diagnosis of small cell lung cancer (SCLC).
Susan, of Greenwich in south east London, underwent surgery to remove a large chunk of her lung and some of her windpipe. She said: “That was a shock… and this surgery was more traumatic than the other surgeries that I’d had. It was more painful, it was more debilitating.”
She also underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy at the Marsden, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year. When the cancer later returned, doctors told Susan she was eligible for a new clinical trial providing hope to lung cancer patients with the HER2 gene mutation, which can stimulate excessive cell growth and division.
Susan now takes just one tablet a day and has seen her lung tumour shrink with no need for further chemotherapy. She said: “My cancer has shrunk and the side effects have been minimal, allowing me to have a much better quality of life. Thanks to this trial, I got to see my first granddaughter go off to university and I hope to see her graduate.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
