The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Writer reveals wife’s four-year fight for survival in new book
Former journalist tried everything, from ancient practices to holistic therapies, in bid to save her life
Seuna Walker spent more than four years fighting for her life.
The former journalist, from Crieff, travelled the world, exploring new ways to the beat the aggressive strain of ovarian cancer that was steadily destroying her.
From ancient practices to holistic therapy, she felt she was just a step away from an elusive cure.
But nothing could save her family from what her husband Gordon described as “the cruellest of goodbyes”.
Mrs Walker, a former assistant editor at The Press and Journal, died in November 2017 at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, where she was receiving treatment for what was thought to be an unrelated back pain.
It transpired her cancer had spread to her spine and her brain.
Throughout her ordeal, she remained optimistic and positive, telling her family how she would celebrate her birthday when she was out of hospital.
Mr Walker, 55, has now penned a book about his wife’s exhaustive drive to beat cancer and the extreme lengths to which she went in search of a remedy.
The book, Way Down Inside, available on Amazon, is being released in paperback in time for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Day on Wednesday.
Mr Walker, who ran a PR firm with Seuna for 17 years, said he hopes it will help others facing a similar battle.
“We always felt that we would find a way to navigate our way out of this,” he said.
“We had almost exhausted every possibility, but were looking into the immunotherapy field when she died.
“That was next on our agenda. Could this have been the elusive magic pill she so desperately sought? We will never know.”
Seuna had been suffering stomach pains for about 18 months and was initially diagnosed with diverticular disease.
As her condition deteriorated, she returned to Perth Royal Infirmary and asked the consultant if she thought it was cancer. Medics did an ultrasound and a dark mass that appeared on the monitor confirmed their worst fears.
Mr Walker said: “Everyone talks about early diagnosis and catching cancer at the earliest possible stage and this is undeniably true, but she did everything possible to find out the source of her pain.
“I still, however, don’t consider it was a misdiagnosis, because ovarian cancer is notoriously difficult to pinpoint at its earlier stages.
“With the benefit of hindsight, what I would say is that anyone with concerns should seek a second or even a third opinion.”
Way Down Inside – a line from a song by Seuna’s favourite band Led Zepplin – details her journey through conventional treatments, diets and holistic centres in Europe.
Mr Walker said Seuna’s daughters Mara, 16, and Romy, 13, were always her main motivation and that the book is about “her drive to get well again and the determination to see her daughters grow old”.
He said: “At no time did I really believe we would lose her until the day she died.”
We always felt that we would find a way... out of this.
GORDON WALKER