'I was a cancer patient and now I'm a cancer nurse'

A woman who recovered from a rare form of ovarian cancer has described her joy after starting a new career as a nurse in the centre where she was treated.

Zowie Fussey, from Ulceby, North Lincolnshire, was diagnosed with a granulosa cell tumour in 2015. She underwent a radical hysterectomy and nine weeks of intensive chemotherapy at the Queen's Centre, Castle Hill Hospital in East Yorkshire.

Ten years after finishing her own treatment, she has secured a job working with the clinical research team.

Fussey, 43, said she had been so moved by the kindness shown to her by hospital staff that she wanted "to give back to other patients and families with cancer".

She said: "The staff really made my cancer journey an experience which would shape my outlook on life and my future career, it was a gift in some ways."

Fussey added that during her cancer treatment, she would often be wheeled past the clinical trials office and be curious about what they did in there.

"The more I thought about it, the more I knew that this was the area I wanted to work in."

In 2017, Fussey landed a job as a healthcare assistant at St Hugh's Hospital in Grimsby, and two years later she began to research courses at the University of Hull.

She started her nurse training in September 2019, studying through the Covid-19 pandemic, and qualified in the summer of 2022.

After joining St Hugh's as a staff nurse, the opportunity to join the academic oncology and haematology research team at Castle Hill became available.

Fussey, who has been cancer-free for 10 years, now supports patients during trials for new treatments, to prolong and improve their quality of life.

Reflecting on her own experience, the mum-of-two said: "I've bumped into a few people already who I recognise from my days as a patient, who looked after me on the ward; one nurse, Emma, even remembered the 'thank you' bracelet I gave her.

"It's amazing to think that, of all the patients these people must see, week in week out, that you can still have an impact on them in the same way they impact on you."

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