Mum-of-eight, Katie Layley hit with devastating breast cancer diagnosis trying to find balance in a chaotic world

An early morning call flipped a mum-of-eight’s life upside down and since then, she has weathered the chaos her diagnosis has brought all while seeking balance in her everyday life.

For mum-of-eight Katie Layley, juggling her kids’ schedules is hectic. But in the midst of everyday life chaos, heartbreak hit on November 7 with a phone call from her doctor that changed everything.

Katie was told she has breast cancer and that has made her schedule much more difficult to bear.

“Dropping kids off and picking them up, only getting to watch half a sporting game because you’ve got to get someone else to another one,” the 42-year-old said.

“I want to try to keep their lives as normal as I can … I don’t want them to miss out on anything just because of what’s going on with me,” the Rosewater mum said.

“Their happiness is always the priority, (but) I am learning that I need to be okay to make sure they’re okay, so I’ve got to get a bit better at that, but it’s definitely strange.

“As a mum you don’t want to put your kids through that, it’s your job to take care of them and protect them from all the bad things, and not expose them to it while you’re going through it.

“That’s one of the worst parts.”

Katie Layley and her husband Josh Hilditch and their children, Lily, 16, Meabh, 15, Oscar, 14, London, 13, Oisin, 12, Etta, 11 and twins Ronnie, 3 and Tilley, 3. Picture: Supplied

Diagnosed with stage two estrogen positive and HER-2 positive breast cancer, Katie, who is a medical scientist, noticed her right breast was smaller than her left.

“I thought it was probably nothing,” she said.

She dismissed the symptom as the beginning of menopause, but told her sister and she encouraged her to get it checked out.

“I sat on it for probably another few months and finally my sister badgered me enough and I went,” she said.

Katie dismissed the symptom for months before finally going to the doctor. Picture: Supplied

A mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy confirmed the worst.

“They rang up on a Thursday morning to tell us that there was definitely breast cancer,” she said.

“It was all very surreal and a bit numb … it was this, wow is this really happening kind of feeling and it’s stayed like this up until now because I didn’t feel sick … I didn’t feel a lump, I didn’t feel anything.”

Since then Katie has begun chemotherapy and will continue treatment for months before she will require surgery to remove the remaining tumour and lymph nodes. Following that, Katie will require radiotherapy.

Eventually she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer. Picture: Supplied

For the family of ten, including Katie’s husband Josh Hilditch and their children, Lily, 16, Meabh, 15, Oscar, 14, London, 13, Oisin, 12, Etta, 11 and twins Ronnie, 3 and Tilley, 3, life will look different, including this upcoming Christmas.

“I don’t feel like this might be my last Christmas but I can’t pretend that what ifs aren’t in my head because I didn’t expect to get cancer,” Katie said.

Katie fears she will wish time away while being sick. Picture: Supplied

The mum-of-eight said while she isn’t trying to dwell on the upcoming new year she can’t help but feel she is “wishing it away”.

“My oldest daughter’s in year 12 … the twins are three, they’re at that fun age where they’re discovering the world … and the other kids are all the levels in-between and I don’t want to wish it all away because it’s going to be hard,” she said.

“I don’t want to miss it because I’m sick.

“Hopefully we can manage it and it won’t be that bad and I’ll just have my wobbly days where I’m a bit sad and melancholy and feel sorry for myself and I’ll be able to pick myself back up and keep going.”

If you’d like to donate to Katie and her family during this time, you can here.