‘I’ve faced cancer five times and had life-changing surgeries – but there’s no way I’m going before my 83-year-old mum’

A woman who has faced cancer five times and undergone three life-changing surgeries has said there is “no way” she is leaving this planet before her mother who is in her 80s.

Michelle Carr, 62, who lives in Bolton, Greater Manchester, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019, before receiving a second, separate diagnosis of endometrial (womb) cancer in 2021.

Michelle has had various treatments at specialist cancer centre, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, because her cancer, known as recurrent high-grade endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinoma, has kept coming back.

She said one surgery involved “sewing the vagina up completely”, and she now has two stoma bags to collect urine and faeces after having her bladder, bowel, rectum and anus removed as part of her treatments.

Despite this, Michelle said she finds joy in travelling, seeing her friends and playing sports, with paddleboarding being one of her favourite hobbies, and she wants to encourage others to stay “strong”.

She told PA Real Life: “In a way, because I’m 62, I just have to look at it and think, ‘I’m alive and here’.

“It just puts things into perspective… and I’ve always said, ‘Live every day like it’s your last because you’re only on this planet once’.”

Michelle worked in the NHS for more than three decades, starting off as a healthcare assistant, before working in community services and the admissions avoidance team.

She said she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 following a routine mammogram and, since she has always been active and healthy, this was a “massive shock”.

“You always think it’s never going to happen to you,” she said.

“It was a huge shock to the system because I was so active, and I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, what if they have to take my breasts off?’.”

Michelle had a lumpectomy to remove the cancerous tumour and surrounding tissue, a bilateral breast reduction on both breasts in January 2019 and radiotherapy, which was successful and placed her in remission.

Two years later, however, she noticed some spotting – light vaginal bleeding – and one of her colleagues knew she needed to seek help.

“I remember a tiny spot of blood, and I said this to one of my colleagues at work who is an advanced practitioner, and she probably saved my life,” Michelle said.

“She said, ‘That’s not right. Have you been on the change?’, and I said, ‘I’ve been on the change for years, since my 40s, but I’ve got this little bit of spotting of blood and it doesn’t seem right’.

“She said, ‘You need to go to your GP, I’m going to ring up now’.”

After a biopsy, Michelle was diagnosed with endometrial cancer, also known as womb or uterine cancer, in 2021.

In April 2022, she underwent a robotic total hysterectomy to remove her womb and cervix and a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy to remove both ovaries and both fallopian tubes.

She then had six cycles of “gruelling” chemotherapy, but she knew she needed to “have hope”.

“When it came back the first time, I thought, ‘Oh gosh, I think my time’s up here if it keeps coming back and they can’t get rid of it’,” she said.

“But my doctors have never once said there’s no hope. They’ve always said to me, ‘We’re going to try’.”

In December 2022, Michelle said she underwent vaginal brachytherapy – a type of internal radiotherapy – which she found “more upsetting” than the chemotherapy.

However, she said her faith and going to church helped her through this difficult time.

“Something was telling me, ‘You need to go back to church’… and I believe going to church has helped me a massive amount to get through this,” she said.

Following her first surgery for her womb cancer, Michelle climbed Ben Nevis in Scotland to raise money for charity.

A few months later, after her chemotherapy, she conquered Snowdon in Wales and The Old Man of Coniston in the Lake District, determined to prove to herself that she could still achieve incredible things.

“Climbing those mountains was my way of showing cancer that it wasn’t the boss of me. I wouldn’t let it define me, and I still won’t,” she said.

Michelle’s cancer returned in 2023, making it her third diagnosis, and she had external beam radiotherapy in December that year.

It returned in 2024, which led to an anterior pelvic exenteration, which is when the bladder and internal reproductive organs are removed, the NHS says.

Her surgery also involved the formation of an ileal conduit, which is a type of urostomy and allows urine made by the kidneys to pass out of the body through an opening, known as a stoma.

When the cancer came back again in 2025, her fifth diagnosis, Michelle was told that she could not have any more chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

In July 2025, she therefore underwent a vaginectomy – surgery to remove all of the vagina – and a colpocleisis, which involves sewing the front and back walls of the vagina together.

Speaking about the impacts of this surgery, Michelle said: “My consultant said, ‘You won’t be sexually active with penetrative sex ever again because we’re going to be sewing you up.

“That is, in a way, heart-breaking because… it makes you feel like, if that was the be all and end all, then your time’s over, really, of enjoying any more of your life.

“But my way of enjoyment is doing the things I love to do and, if I’m capable of going out walking and meeting my friends, and doing my sport, that is more to me than anything.”

The gynaecological oncology surgical team at The Christie provides surgery for all gynaecological cancers, in close conjunction with the non-surgical cancer treatments carried out there.

The team often provide surgery to patients with advanced gynaecological cancers that are not considered operable elsewhere, and Michelle said her team has been “wonderful”.

In January 2026, Michelle had her latest surgery, an abdominoperineal resection, where a surgeon removes the diseased area of the bowel, rectum and anus and closes this area with stitches.

This resulted in her having a colostomy, which is made by bringing part of the large bowel to the surface of the skin to form an opening, creating another stoma for faeces.

Although she struggles with the impacts of her diagnoses and treatments, she said she will not give up.

“I’m thinking to myself, ‘When is it going to end?’, but in a way, I must be strong. I must take after my mum, Maureen,” Michelle said.

“We lost my dad when he was 41 and my sister died when she was 33, so we are a small family.

“But in my mind, I’ve always been here, thinking, ‘You can’t die before your mum’.”

Michelle now has check-ups every three months and is currently having physio as she has bone problems following her radiotherapy.

However, she is “making (her) way back to health” and has recently been on safari in Africa, seeing elephants, lions and leopards up close, and she is looking forward to paddleboarding again.

She would like to pay special tribute to her consultant surgeon at The Christie, Miss Bridget Decruze, whose expertise and compassion gave her confidence throughout her treatment.

She would also like to thank her nurse, Maria Kikayi, who she describes as “an angel” for the care, reassurance and support she has provided, and she said the rest of her team is “amazing”, too.

Michelle’s message to anyone facing challenges is: “Live every day like it’s your last.

“It doesn’t have to be loud, sometimes just a whisper in your head saying, ‘Keep going’.”

She added: “I do have my down days, but in this life, you’ve got to be strong.

“You’ve got to fight it because cancer takes so many people.

“I’ve got an 83-year-old mum and there’s no way I’m going before her. No way.”

For more information and support, visit The Christie’s website here: www.christie.nhs.uk.