Heartbreak as ‘athletic' woman, 25, dies after lower back pain blamed on ‘poor posture' was misdiagnosed as sciatica
"Athletic" Kate Drummond, 25, was "fit and healthy" when in 2020 she began to experience bad back pain.
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Kate was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in August 2021
Credit: Family Handout/PA Real Life
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She initially put this down to 'poor posture' or working out too much
Credit: Family Handout/PA Real Life
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She underwent treatment for several months but deteriorated 'rapidly'
Credit: Family Handout/PA Real Life
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he initially put this down to "poor posture" or working out too much, according to her 33-year-old sister Kelly Drummond.
After the pain radiated to her hip, Kate was diagnosed with "probable sciatica" after visiting the A&E department of her local hospital in Devon in May 2021.
Kelly said it was noted she was "one of the youngest patients (doctors) had ever seen" with the condition.
After going on to seek an MRI scan through private care, Kate was given the "life-altering" news she had a "grapefruit-sized" tumour in her pelvis in August 2021.
Read more Health News
She underwent treatment for several months but deteriorated "rapidly" in January 2022 as the disease quickly spread to "almost every part of her body", including her lungs, liver and other bones.
Kate died in March 2022 in hospital and her sister Kelly is sharing her story for the first time to urge others to "listen to your body" and "advocate for yourself".
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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.
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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.
Most read in Health
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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.
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Kate's story shows just how unpredictable cancer is and clearly, early diagnosis has been shown time and time again to save lives.
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Kelly said Kate, who worked in customer care for a local company, first noticed something "wasn't quite right" in the late summer of 2020 when she developed "intermittent" lower back pain.
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She put this down to working from home, it was the Covid pandemic, and she thought this was due to poor posture or a slightly uncomfortable working set-up," Kelly said.
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By January 2021, the pain was more persistent and she had some new pain radiating into her hip as well.
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Kate died on March 17, 2022.
Kelly said she and her family members are still struggling to process the loss.
"Don't wait, and laugh more, I think she would say.
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Kate's family and friends continue to honour her in their day-to-day lives by aiming to live for the moment and be more present.
"Kate was the most kind and considerate person and people were just generally drawn to her, she was really warm," Kelly said.
"She had really good wit and she was just hilarious – she had this amazingly infectious laugh.
"We all say her laugh is what we miss most about her.
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April marks Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month for the Bone Cancer Research Trust, the UK's leading charity for primary bone cancer.
To find out more, visit their website here:
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Kelly (left) described Kate (right) as a 'fit and healthy' individual
Credit: Family Handout/PA Real Life
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Also at the inquest was Linda Scotson who said she was qualified in hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), the HBOT is a treatment where people breathe pure oxygen in a high-pressure chamber. Some people claim it can fight cancer, but there's no strong scientific evidence that it can treat or cure the disease. Advertisement While oxygen can support healthy tissue, it doesn't specifically target or kill cancer cells. Major cancer organisations like Cancer Research do not recommend HBOT as a standalone cancer treatment. She said Paloma had not been sure she had cancer and was aiming to "improve her immediate quality of life", after which she had claimed to feel "better in herself". Asked by Kate Shemirani if she had seen others in Paloma's situation coming to her centre, Linda replied: "We have people with a whole variety of problems, such as ME, Long Covid, sprains and fractures. Advertisement "It's amazing what a little extra oxygen can do for the body. You are lifting stress." Paloma's twin brother Gabriel also asked her: "Did you explicitly tell her this will not treat her cancer?" Linda said: "She knew it wasn't treating her cancer in a direct way. I was treating her whole body and her wellbeing." Read more on the Irish Sun When asked by Gabriel if she had left it "deliberately vague", she replied: "I never said I was treating her cancer and she wasn't certain that she had cancer." Advertisement The inquest continues. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma treatment, as recommended by the NHS Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is usually treated with chemotherapy or radiotherapy, although some people may not need treatment straight away. In a few cases, if the initial cancer is very small and can be removed during a biopsy, no further treatment may be needed. If non-Hodgkin lymphoma is low grade (slow developing) and a person is well, a period of "watch and wait" is often recommended. 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These medicines attach themselves to both healthy and cancerous cells, and signal to the immune system to attack and kill the cells. Other potential non-Hodgkin lymphoma treatments include: Cancer growth blockers Steroid medicine Immunotherapy Source: NHS
