A SINGLE mum from York, who was told she had just two years to live after being given an incurable cancer diagnosis, is defying the odds seven years on.

Thursday, 13 March 2025 18:48

By Haydn Lewis

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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