Voices: Like Kate, I’ve just been diagnosed with cancer – telling my kids was the hardest thing I’ve ever done

I’ve just heard the news that Kate has cancer. I really do feel for her. Right now, I can imagine exactly how she’s feeling – and I’d be willing to bet she’ll be experiencing a lot of conflicting emotions. I felt it was a bit like grief, as well as anger, denial, upset and constant questioning.

I’m 48 and I was diagnosed with the day before last month. It suddenly felt like cancer was everywhere. I thought I knew quite a lot about it, but it turns out that I didn’t – and she’ll be moving between denial (feeling like it’s some kind of awful soap opera) to wanting to read enough to be able to ask the right questions.