Western Daily Press (Saturday)
I’m not giving up, says doctor fighting cancer
“I’M not done yet. I don’t feel like I’m going to die this year or that was my last Christmas.” Those are the defiant words from A&E doctor Jessi Tucker, who was diagnosed with stage three melanoma skin cancer at the start of the pandemic, when she was working 10-hour shifts saving lives.
The 40-year-old said battling the aggressive cancer, which has now spread to her lungs and turned into a more serious stage four tumour, during the Covid crisis has made her illness a lot tougher to handle.
She had to tell her parents about her diagnosis over a video call, and was unable to see friends when she was told the devastating news that without treatment she could have just nine months to live.
But Jessi, from Bristol, says she is not a victim, and intends to fight the
After the phone call ended, I howled. I have never made that sound before JESSI TUCKER
cancer every step of the way.
Five minutes before her GP called Jessi to tell her the lump on the top of her thigh was cancer, Jessi had been on the phone to the human resources department trying to increase her hours so she could work more throughout the pandemic.
She said: “It felt like the ground fell away from me, everything went very still. It was very surreal, like stepping into a nightmare.
“After the phone call ended, I howled. I have never made that sound before. My body jittered. I paced. I swore. I cried.
“I’d have normally gone round to a friend’s house but I couldn’t because of Covid.”
Within a week, Jessi was rushed in for emergency surgery because her consultant was shutting his clinics down.
After the procedure she had to remove her post-op staples by herself as most clinics had shut.
“I have been humbled to have such an amazing team throughout and to be cared for by the NHS,” said Jessi. “But there is no doubt that coronavirus has made everything a lot more challenging.”
Jessi then started an immunotherapy, which caused bowel issues, skin irritations and joint pains.
Due to her symptoms, her consultant took her off the treatment in the hope that the surgery had removed her tumour. But within weeks another lump appeared on her leg, and scans confirmed it was melanoma.
Further tests showed the cancer had spread to her lungs, and without trying immunotherapy again, doctors said she could have up to nine months to live.
“It could make me very poorly,” said Jessi.
“It’s likely I will end up unwell from this treatment but I don’t have any alternative. I don’t want to die – I’m not ready for that.
“I feel hopeful, I don’t see myself as a victim. I’m not done yet. I don’t feel like I’m going to die this year or that was my last Christmas.”
Throughout this whole experience, Jessi said she has been blown away by everybody’s support.
“People have been really kind,” she said. “Not just my family and friends, but nurses and doctors, some of them I have only met once.
“None of us know what’s going to happen. I could be knocked over by a car tomorrow.”
Jessi’s NHS sick pay has run out, and she is now reliant on money from a charity to help her through this period. But her close friend Caroline Walker has also set up a Gofundme to help Jessi while she is too sick to return to the wards.
The page reads: “Jessi is one of my dearest friends. She is an A&E doctor, writer and poet, with a giant heart and a beautiful soul.
“She has a huge appetite for life and is normally the first one to crack a joke or offer help. She has spent her whole life looking after others, and now I would like to help give something back to her.”
Jessi has also started a blog, called ‘Cancer in the time of Covid’, which you can read at com