Wakefield woman who has survived cancer four times shares her journey and 'emotional' battle

Kimberley Hattersley-Barton, 25, from Wakefield underwent treatment for rhabdomyosarcoma, a soft tissue sarcoma, in 1999. After undergoing emergency surgery, followed by numerous rounds of chemo and radiotherapy, she was given the all-clear at the age of two-and-a-half.

Children’s cancer survivors, however, run a higher risk of developing cancer later in life. And in 2016, at the age of 18, she was diagnosed with a second cancer - squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common form of skin cancer - which would require laser excision surgery, a neck dissection and 33 rounds of radiotherapy at Leeds’ St James’s Hospital.

Despite the successful treatment, Kimberley received another diagnosis of a separate case of squamous cell carcinoma in 2020, and underwent the same surgery as well as a neck dissection on the opposite side. But this time, no treatment was needed.

Her fourth and most recent diagnosis came last year, when surveillance scans picked up a thyroid mutation, resulting in the removal of her thyroid and another neck dissection.

Kimberley is now in remission for all four cancers, but suffers from several long-term side effects as a result of the treatment she received as a child. Known as “late effects”, these have a profound impact on her life.

She has now partnered up with Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) to highlight the long-term impact children's cancer has on survivors and how their quality of life is affected by their disease and its treatment.

Some of the many health problems Kimberley is facing include kidney, heart and ovarian failure. The latter of which led to her finding out she was infertile last year.

She said: “The main thing I suffer from is kidney failure. This condition impacts my energy levels, leaves me with extreme fatigue and affects my breathing, and I’m susceptible to water infections as well. 

“Because of the ovarian failure, I haven't had puberty naturally. I’ve never had monthly periods and had to start hormone replacement therapy in my early teens. 

“I was injected with growth hormones every night for eight years, to basically do everything that my body should have been doing but couldn't because of the damage the treatment had done. 

“When I was told I was infertile that had quite an emotional impact. I was always aware I couldn't have carried a baby, but the full issue of fertility was never properly addressed.”

For Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this September, Kimberley hopes that by raising awareness of the long-term impact of children’s cancer, people will be more understanding of the issues faced by survivors.

She said: “I’ve always raised awareness in Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and it’s the perfect month and opportunity to make people aware of late effects, which is incredibly important to me. 

“I want to share things others wouldn’t know unless experienced in some way personally and help them understand what cancer journeys are like. It's an important discussion to be had and I feel it does need to be understood more, particularly as it’s such a broad and complex thing. 

“Sharing lived experiences can have a powerful effect and that’s why I’m working with CCLG to get the message across and help spread awareness further.”

CCLG funds pioneering research into finding kinder, more effective treatments that will result in less long-term side effects for patients, as well as studies developing support for them after treatment.

Kimberley added: “You’ve got to keep moving forward and putting the patients at the forefront and meeting their needs, and finding out what it is that needs to be done to support them going forward, during treatment, after treatment, with late effects. Research is one of the big ways of doing that.”

Ashley Ball-Gamble, CCLG Chief Executive, said: “We’d like to say a huge thank you to Kimberley for sharing her inspiring story and helping raise awareness of some of the challenges childhood cancer patients face after treatment.

“Through our pioneering research, we’re working hard to change the future for children with cancer, both during and after treatment.”

Reflecting on what has helped her during her journey, Kimberley said: “I’d advise communicating with whoever you feel is your support network, whether that’s friends, family, or professionals, because I think that really makes a difference. 

“It's also so important to make sure you ask questions of your medical team as well and let them know what you’re going through.   

“Each person's different, but I think it’s also important to reach out to other young people who have experienced similar circumstances or are living with late effects as we can understand each other's worries and daily lifestyles for what they are. 

She continued: “We don’t have to over-explain ourselves and it can feel refreshing to be able to talk to someone who understands exactly what you’re saying or experiencing. This makes for a very different, and comforting, kind of support circle.”