I WON’T BE BEATEN
Former Gold Coast radio personality Kate Carlyle says she is ready to face her latest health battle “head on” after doctors discovered a mass in her mouth.
FORMER Gold Coast radio personality Kate Carlyle is facing a new health battle after doctors discovered a mass in her mouth.
Carlyle, a popular identity on Hot Tomato between 2003-09, said the growth was discovered during a follow-up visit with her specialist.
She battled breast cancer in 2009 and 2012 and an aggressive form of acute myeloid leukaemia in 2014, which required a bone-marrow transplant in January 2015.
Carlyle will undergo surgery today to remove the mass which is “a little bit smaller than a pea” from the floor of her mouth.
It was found during a PET scan four months ago and since then Carlyle’s doctors have monitored the mass and conducted numerous tests.
“To see a scan with another mass was not the greatest day of my life,” Carlyle told the Bulletin today.
“I just knew automatically it was the start of that rollercoaster ride again to try and work out what this was.
“But it’s happening, so game on.
“I choose very definitely every single day to not let that be a negative, I want for the things that have happened to me to have a very positive ripple effect with everybody that I come into contact with.”
The former 102.9 Hot Tomato identity, who turns 40 in just over a week, said she was glad her surgeon wouldn’t have to cut through her face to access the mass. Instead it will be accessed through the bottom of her mouth.
“I haven’t fought through all of this to just roll over,” Carlyle said.
“So when things, like this little speed bump or curve balls pop up you just have to tackle them head on.”
“And the breast cancer in another way also changed my life – so these complications that rear their ugly head are just another challenge.”
Carlyle, who lives with her mother at Bundall, said she “didn’t feel anything” in her mouth and assumed everything was “well and good” before the mass was discovered.
“My bloods are stable at the moment, that’s a positive, I don’t know what this is, it might be nothing, but given my history it needs to be dealt with in this way,” she said.
“And unfortunately it is not in a position where they can biopsy ... it just has to be done surgically.”
Carlyle said no matter how many times she received bad news from doctors it never got easier.
“It probably gets harder, because you know what you’re potentially in for,” she said. “And none of it is fun but the reality is that it needs to be done.”
I JUST KNEW AUTOMATICALLY IT WAS THE START OF THAT ROLLERCOASTER RIDE AGAIN. KATE CARLYLE