Stomach cancer: ‘It was a shock diagnosis. I was fit and healthy, I didn’t feel unwell – just pressure and a pain when eating’

Twelve years ago, Patricia Waters was diagnosed with an aggressive tumour in her stomach. The aftermath of the disease lingers to this day, but she has found hope and faith in the midst of her ordeal

Patricia Waters from Sligo, who had surgery after stomach cancer 12 years ago and has been living with extremely severe symptoms ever since. Photo: James Connolly

Liadán Hynes

‘It was a shock diagnosis, and it wasn’t what anyone was expecting to find. Even the medical team,” Patricia Waters says of her cancer diagnosis 12 years ago. “I was fit and healthy, working, training to be an Irish dance teacher, I was studying. I was living my life like everyone else. I ate healthy, I didn’t smoke, I exercised.”

Patricia, who lives in Sligo, had gone to her GP after experiencing a “sharp pain” in her breastbone when she was trying to eat. “And some pressure, as if you’re trying to burp, or get the pressure to move, but it wouldn’t go anywhere. And I was tired, but I put it down to everything I was doing.”

Latest NewsMore