Lesley’s still saying yes eight years on from her lung cancer diagnosis
Lesley first shared her story with us in 2025. Her lung cancer was found by chance in 2018 during tests for something else. It came back in 2022, when testing showed it was EGFR+, and she had a second lobectomy followed by adjuvant treatment. Her husband, Cliff, died in 2024, shortly after her surgery.
This year, life has settled down a bit.
“I’m still clear of cancer, I’m anticipating the end of my adjuvant treatment in a few months time, and though I’m still anxious about the future, I am really trying to live in the moment and enjoy life to the full.”
Her son has moved into his own home, and knowing he’s settled has given Lesley a new kind of freedom.
“I can do what I want, when I want, or simply nothing at all!”
She’s kept making friends through We Get It, her local cancer community in Bath. She modelled in their fundraising fashion show, Strength in Style, at Bath Abbey, and walked 100km in May. She’s finished a year of art classes at the Holburne Museum, trying sculpture, printing and pottery, and she goes to concerts and shows on her own. The biggest highlights were trips to Costa Rica and Sicily, both on her bucket list, and she’s already booked to go to Canada next year.
Lesley has been saying yes to as many new things as she can, and learning to say no without feeling guilty. If side effects or tiredness mean she’s having a bad day, she stays at home and rests.
