High flyer becomes Nurse following cancer treatment

A high-flying businesswoman was so inspired by her life-saving cancer treatment in Wolverhampton that she has re-trained as a Nurse.

Eve, as a high-powered businesswoman with her own marketing company, and as a soon-to-be Staff Nurse as people see her now

Mother-of-two Eve Howard, 46, is two months away from qualifying as a Registered Nurse and is now applying for permanent roles at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT).

This is all a far cry from earning in a week what it now takes a month to earn as a Nurse. Eve ran her own IT and marketing firm with clients such as Virgin after graduating in law and literature then completing her Master’s in IT and business.

Despite being a teetotal vegan who ran marathons and is a non-smoker, she was diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer in October 2018.

An eight-centimetre long tumour was found in her bowel and two Malteser-sized tumours were discovered in her liver.

Eve, from Penkridge, underwent surgery at New Cross Hospital in August 2019 under Mr Ian Badger, Consultant, to remove 20 centimetres of her bowel and had a stoma fitted.

Liver surgery followed in November 2019 at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, then she had her stoma bag reversal at New Cross Hospital in 2020.

“My tummy now looks like Google Maps!” joked Eve, who underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. “I feel a 100 per cent different person to what I was before my cancer – it’s very transformative.

“I say in my personal statement on my CV that due to a very significant health diagnosis it has led me to see what patient-centred care is like from the inside.

“Honestly, from that moment forward, I couldn’t think of another career that I wanted to do.

“Julie Morrell from Chaplaincy said something which changed the ‘marketing me’ to the ‘Nursing me’ – that sometimes we have to close some doors and open some windows to see what flies.

“At that moment I thought about Nursing and thought ‘that’s what I want to do.

Eve acknowledged the significant role played by Mr Badger in her recovery and her career change.

“If it hadn’t have been for the way he delivered the news I don’t think I’d have coped with it,” she said.

“He grabbed me by the hands and looked me in the eyes and said ‘you have a serious problem but remember these words: It’s treatable and it’s curable.’ As soon as I heard, that, that was all I needed.”

Eve received the all clear on January 12, 2021 and five days later applied to train as a Nurse.

Her training hasn’t always been smooth as her father and “Number one cheerleader” Tony Ashwell died aged 80 in February, also at New Cross, after having prostate cancer.

She is determined to work at New Cross, where she and her children were born and where she had most of her life-saving treatment.

“My second placement was on Ward A14, where male patients are treated but it’s close to where I was cared for on Ward A12,” added Eve.

“I couldn’t have wished for a better placement because there were cancer patients and people who’d undergone bowel surgery there so I could really relate to what people are going through.

“It’s literally the most rewarding career you can do.”