21-05-2025
‘I feel like this is what I was supposed to do': From cancer survivor to supporting families battling the disease
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — is excited to share the remarkable story of a young social worker at USA Health Children's and Women's Hospital.
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Katelyn Tillman was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer as a teenager.
A decade later, she is a social worker and is working on her Master's Degree in social work.
Tillman believes she was meant to be a social worker at USA Health Children's and Women's Hospital. She spends her days at work encouraging patients and their families and connecting them with resources they will need when they leave the hospital.
'Social work was never on my radar before I was diagnosed,' Tillman said. 'After being in the hospital and meeting social workers, I knew this is what I wanted to do.'
Tillman was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, bone cancer, in her leg when she was just 13.
WKRG even interviewed her back in 2014 when she was newly diagnosed. She was going through chemo and had lost her hair. She was participating in a Bald is Beautiful photoshoot that was donated by a local photographer.
Not long after we met her, she had to have her leg amputated. Her cancer diagnosis was just the beginning. She experienced side effects from chemo, had her lung removed, and her cancer even relapsed.
'We were very fortunate, and we had amazing social workers when we were in and out of the hospital. So that led me to want to be able to help people with the medical and the other stuff that's affected,' Tillman told WKRG this year.
Katelyn's mom, Dina Tillman, said words cannot describe what her daughter has endured over the last 11 years, but she admires Katelyn's strong will. She added that when they walked into the hospital to meet with our WKRG crew, it brought her back to when her daughter was fighting for her life.
'The last time we left, she left intubated, heading to an airplane to go to a hospital in Atlanta,' Dina Tillman shared. 'This time, she led me into the hospital as a worker at USA Children's and Women's Hospital, so it was just so emotional for me to see how far she's come in these last eight, nine, ten years since that time.'
Katelyn still suffers from the effects of her cancer treatments, but her boss, Nicoll Mastin, Director of Care Management, said he never complains.
'Caitlin serves as an inspiration to those who are dealing with similar physical challenges or obstacles,' Mastin said. 'She is living proof that with hard work, perseverance, and determination, anyone can accomplish their goals and dreams.'
Katelyn said she hopes she can be an inspiration to other patients and that they can see that there is life after cancer treatments.
'Sometimes it can be scary picturing what life will look like when you go home,' she said. 'It may not look the same, but I can encourage them that they can do this, and there is life outside the hospital.'
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Tillman hopes that when people hear her story, they will know that cancer does not have to be the end of a person's life. It can be a beginning, too.
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