Cancer all clear inspires woman to retrain as nurse

Eve Howard was given the all clear from cancer in January 2021

Care from hospital staff inspired a business woman to retrain as a nurse five days after she got the all clear from cancer.

Eve Howard, from Penkridge, Staffordshire, was diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer in October 2018.

The mum-of-two had three surgeries, including having part of her bowel removed, before she was given the all clear on 12 January 2021.

Inspired by the staff at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital she applied to become a nurse on 17 January and is now two months away from qualifying.

Ms Howard said: “I feel a 100% different person to who I was before my cancer – it’s very transformative.”

The 46-year-old joked that this was despite the fact her tummy “now looks like Google Maps”.

Eve Howard described it as the "most rewarding" career she could do

Before her diagnosis and treatment, Ms Howard ran an IT and marketing firm, with Virgin among her clients.

She was diagnosed when an 8cm (3.1in)-long tumour was found in her bowel along with two tumours in her liver.

She had surgery in August 2019 to remove 20cm (7.1in) of her bowel and had a stoma fitted.

Ms Howard then had liver surgery in November 2019 at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital before a stoma bag reversal at New Cross in 2020.

She said her experience of the care she received during her treatment inspired her to retrain.

“Honestly, from that moment forward, I couldn’t think of another career that I wanted to do,” she added.

Ms Howard is now applying for permanent roles at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and is determined to work at New Cross.

As well as it being where she had the majority of her treatment, it was also where her late dad was treated for prostate cancer and where her children were born.