UPDATE: |Woman, 25, dies as back pain ‘misdiagnosed as sciatica’ before shock diagnosis News

The sister of a woman who died less than a year after a “grapefruit-sized tumour” was discovered say “things could have been different” if the cancer was spotted sooner

A 25-year-old who tragically died from bone cancer was told her back pain was sciatica before a “grapefruit-sized tumour” was discovered.

Kate Drummond, who was “fit and healthy” when she started to experience back pain in 2020, died less than a year after an MRI scan found the large tumour in her pelvis.

According to her 33-year-old sister Kelly Drummond, Kate put her back pain down to “poor posture” or exercising too much. However, Kate was diagnosed with “probable sciatica” after the pain radiated to her hip and she visited A&E in May 2021.

In August 2021, after seeking a private MRI scan, Kate was given the “life-altering” news she had a “grapefruit-sized” tumour in her pelvis.

The customer care worker underwent treatment for several months but deteriorated “rapidly” in January 2022 after the disease spread to “almost every part of her body”, including her lungs, liver and other bones.

Kate sadly died in March 2022. “We’d be silly to not assume that things could have been slightly different had she been diagnosed sooner,” Kelly, a personal trainer from Devon, told PA Real Life as she urged others to “listen to your body” and “advocate for yourself”.

Kelly added: “When Kate’s tumour was found, it was large, they described it as grapefruit-sized and it was suggested she may have had cancer in her body for up to two years.

“What started as some lower back pain turned into cancer within a matter of days, which then turned into multiple cancerous tumours in almost every part of her body – the rapid progression was shocking.

“Kate’s story shows just how unpredictable cancer is and clearly, early diagnosis has been shown time and time again to save lives.”

Kelly said Kate first noticed something “wasn’t quite right” in the late summer of 2020 when she developed lower back pain. But this soon became “more persistent” with new pain in her hip.

Kate started to seek help from her GP, who prescribed her pain killers, before she had a blood test in May 2021 which revealed an indicator for inflammation was “considerably elevated”.

An A&E at a local hospital told Kate it was probably sciatica – a common condition where pain is felt in the leg when the sciatic nerve, which runs down from the lower back, is irritated or compressed.

However, after her mobility began to decline, a spinal physiotherapist became concerned with her symptoms, leading Kate to seek a private MRI scan that revealed the large tumour, with numerous deposits on her spine.

After a biopsy at Birmingham Hospital, Kate was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer that can start in the bones or soft tissue, in August 2021.

Within “a matter of weeks”, Kelly said the disease had spread to Kate’s lungs, liver, skull, jaw and other bones in her body.

Kelly said: “I felt shock and disbelief, but also a bit of guilt as well as you think ‘could I have done more to push her to seek help sooner?’

“It all felt really unreal and it shouldn’t happen to someone so young, especially someone so fit and healthy.”

Kate was given emergency radiotherapy and chemotherapy for several months, where Kelly said she showed signs of improvement.

“She remained so strong and so positive the whole time, it was beyond us and we will never understand it,” Kelly added.

In January 2022, Kelly said Kate’s liver and kidneys started to shut down from the disease. Kate died on March 17, 2022 – and Kelly said she and her family members are still struggling to process the loss.

“Kate was never meant to die, it was an aggressive cancer but she was never given a terminal diagnosis until the last few weeks,” she said.

“It just shows how very, very suddenly things can change.”

Kelly said Kate’s message would be to “listen to your body” and “advocate for yourself”, encouraging others to “make the most of your life that you’re lucky to have.”