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A mother’s elation at being declared cancer-free turned to devastation just weeks later after doctors discovered a tiny, inoperable tumour, giving her less than three years to live.
Michelle Black, 50, from Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, received the joyous news that she had overcome a rare bile duct cancer in November. However, her world was shattered five days before Christmas when a scan revealed a new tumour, “less than a millimetre in size,” changing her prognosis to stage three and incurable.
Bile duct cancer is exceptionally rare, affecting only three in a million people globally each year, with a grim survival rate: a mere three in 10 patients live longer than a year after diagnosis.
The full-time mum’s initial diagnosis came in March last year, following symptoms including appetite loss, pain under her ribs, dark urine, and yellowing skin.
After surgery to remove 60 per cent of Michelle’s liver, doctors initially thought the cancer had gone but further tests in December 2024 revealed a tiny tumour remained in the tissues near her portal vein – a major vessel carrying blood from the liver.
Doctors have given her a prognosis of two to three years, but Michelle is determined to find a cure and be there for her son Mason, 16, her daughter, Shannon, 31, and her two granddaughters, six and nine.
“It’s impossible to believe that I’ve gone from being cancer-free at Christmas to a stage three incurable cancer six weeks later for something so small you can’t even see it,” Michelle said.
“The cancer is so small, it is almost invisible – we’re still baffled as to why it can’t be cured.
“My son hasn’t cried yet because he says ‘you’re going to get through it’.
“It’s crazy how something so tiny can be so aggressive. There has to be somebody out there who can help me and cure it.
“I only have two to three years and I don’t want to leave my children and grandchildren.”
Michelle has lived a healthy life free of cigarettes and alcohol, but first realised something was wrong in December 2023 when her skin turned yellow and she experienced pain under her ribs, a loss of appetite, dark urine and pale stools.
Since then, she has endured 15 months of non-stop illness, hospital admissions, new diagnoses, repeat sepsis and surgery.
Best friend Kirstine Cox, 53, who has supported Michelle throughout her ordeal, recalled the early signs of the illness.
“We were sitting in our usual spot at our favourite cafe, Okka in Harpenden, after dropping our kids off at school,” Kirstine said.
“I asked Michelle ‘are you going to have breakfast?’ and she said ‘I can’t eat it’… I just thought it was a virus or something.”
In the weeks that followed, Michelle began losing weight without trying, dropping up to 2lb (0.9kg) every 10 days.
A visit to the rheumatologist showed she had a high level of Bilirubin, produced by the breakdown of red blood cells, and Michelle was sent for further tests at Lister Hospital in Stevenage.
“She didn’t think anything serious was going to happen but then she called me from the hospital in floods of tears,” said Kirstine, from Markyate.
“She said ‘I can’t believe it, they say it could be cancer but they can’t be sure’.”
Kirstine drove Michelle to the Royal Free Hospital, in London, for further checks where doctors confirmed it was bile duct cancer – also known as cholangiocarcinoma.
“We sat in the canteen and we were both in tears,” said Kirstine.
“If you get any cancer, you wouldn’t want this one – it’s one of the most aggressive you can get.
“Then Michelle said ‘I need to tell my son’ so we met at my local Harvester and told him the news.”
On April 8 last year, surgeons removed Michelle’s gallbladder, 60 per cent of her liver and reattached her bowel in a bid to remove the cancer.
“I went to visit and couldn’t believe how terrible she looked,” Kirstine said.
“She was just like a zombie due to the medicine. She couldn’t speak, she wasn’t herself.
Michelle spent the next few months in and out of hospital, being readmitted for MRSA and later sepsis.
By September, she still had discomfort under her ribs and went back to the Royal Free for further tests including a spyglass procedure where doctors took tiny biopsies from within her blood vessels.
“We waited a couple of weeks and went back to the Royal Free where an oncologist said ‘the biopsies have come back clear and there is no spread’,” Kirstine said.
A second opinion was required and confirmed it was not cancer but likely just inflammation.
Believing she was cancer-free, Michelle celebrated her 50th birthday with friends and family in November 2024.
“I was told I was in the clear and it was the best birthday present ever,” said Michelle.
By December however, Michelle still “wasn’t feeling right” and underwent further scans and tests.
Five days before Christmas, doctors at the Royal Free confirmed she still had bile duct cancer in the tissues near her portal vein – and it was actually stage three and incurable.
“It was awful… but we’re talking about a microscopic area, it was really hard for doctors to know,” said Kirstine.
“Because it is in the tissues, it is inoperable and they cannot cure it.”
Bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) symptoms
NHS
Bile duct cancer may not have any symptoms, or they can be hard to spot.
Symptoms can include:
- the whites of your eyes turning yellow or your skin turning yellow, which may be less obvious on brown or black skin (jaundice)
- itchy skin
- darker pee and paler poo than usual
- loss of appetite or losing weight without trying to
- feeling generally unwell
- feeling tired or having no energy
- a high temperature, or you feel hot or shivery
In January, doctors suggested palliative care and chemotherapy as a means to give Michelle more time.
But Michelle is optimistic they caught the cancer early and remains determined to find a cure, while still battling the disease in and out of hospital.
“I am up and down like a rollercoaster,” Michelle said.
“It’s like a countdown. I keep thinking ‘two months has gone already’ and I need to try and stop that.
“It’s really hard, how do you do that?”
So far, she has had one round of chemotherapy and remains in and out of hospital for treatment and recurring infections.
Kirstine has launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for alternative treatments for Michelle and to enable her to make special memories with her family.
“I’d like to thank Kirstine as well as my mum, my sister Claire, my daughter Shannon, my neighbour Emma, my son Mason and everybody who has helped me so far as I try to beat this,” Michelle said.
Kirstine added: “Michelle is the most wonderful friend you could ever imagine.
“She just wants people to love her and she would do anything for anyone – she radiates love and she radiates kindness.”
Michelle’s fundraising page can be found on GoFundMe.