An Aberystwyth woman is urging people to push for answers about their health following the discovery of a tumour.

Catherine Beckham had felt unwell for years but put her symptoms down to ageing. However, a lunchtime conversation with a friend led to the discovery of a tumour.

Eighteen months ago, Catherine received an official diagnosis of neuroendocrine cancer (NET) which “brought with it equal measures of fear and relief”.

“Since then, life has changed. I have had to manage my energy more carefully and be more considered about what I take on, but it has also given me perspective.

“I don’t want to waste a single moment. I want to live my life as fully as I possibly can.”

Catherine has set up a fundraiser for NET research and awareness, but also wants to share this message: “If something just doesn’t feel right, please don’t dismiss it. Take your health seriously. Take yourself seriously. Push for answers.

“Life is a gift to be treasured.”

Looking back on the last few years, Catherine said: “There is a tiredness that doesn’t come from lack of sleep. It seeps in slowly, until it becomes a weariness you simply learn to carry.

“Like so many women in midlife, I told myself it was just life now: The older face staring back in the mirror, the words that sometimes slipped my grasp, sudden hot flushes across my skin, and a persistent heaviness deep in my bones.

“‘The body speaks’ though sadly no longer with the deep sensual hum of a Depeche Mode song. Sometimes its message arrives more quietly, as plain and insistent as a blackbird singing in spring, as happened to me one ordinary lunchtime.

“I was at the arts centre, meeting a friend, sharing intimate stories and laughter over tea, around the usual dramas of family life.

“I mentioned a few concerns I’d been having. My friend listened quietly, then said simply, ‘Get a scan. Just to put your mind at rest.’

“Such a small suggestion. Yet those few words led to a pivotal change in my life.

“The Bronglais Hospital radiologist told me there was an area of concern but my GP would be in touch once they had the results.

“I wasn’t too worried, until one morning I had five missed calls from the surgery.

“I saw my doctor the next day and she explained I had a tumour and would need surgery within a couple of weeks.

“From that moment, everything became like a dream”.

In December 2024, my consultant rang with my diagnosis: Neuroendocrine Cancer. I sat with the words for a moment and waited for them to settle. I hadn’t been expecting this. There was fear, for the obvious reasons, but also hope, as it had been caught early. It would need to be managed for the rest of my life.”

Catherine has organised a birthday fundraiser “to give something back to the researchers developing better treatments, the skilled surgeons, the compassionate nurses and the extraordinary NHS that caught what could so easily have been missed”.

To donate, visit https://shorturl.at/m1Mua