A Nova Scotia doctor who was recently diagnosed with a rare form of cancer says she’s not going to let her diagnosis define her.

Tanya Keough was recently diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma.

“I was shocked,” says Keough. “I felt a sense of betrayal by my body.”

One cancer attacks her blood and bone marrow, while the other is mostly found in her lymphnodes.

There is currently no cure.

“I'm going to live with this as best I can, every single day,” says Keough. “I'm really going to make the best life I possibly can, living with this every day and hopefully try to motivate others around me to have the same attitude.”

Keough says she’s been a fighter her whole life.

“I was born in Corner Brook, NL at four months premature and not expected to thrive as a young child or as an adult,” Keough says. “At 15 years old, I lost my mom after a long battle with depression and mental illness to suicide.”

During university, Tanya travelled extensively and discovered what she wanted to do with her life. She moved to New Zealand when she was 25, where she pursued her medical and surgical degree.

And at the University of Auckland, Keough regained a passion for running.

“Those five years in New Zealand, running certainly became my therapy and certainly became my motivation outside of work and school,” she says.  

Now back home, Keough is well on her way to becoming a family doctor. She’s three months from finishing her residency.

“The goal is certainly in sight.”

Keough received her diagnosis on Feb. 3, 19 years to the day after her mother's death.

“I'm not going to beat it, but I don't have to beat it in order to be who I am,” says Keough.

That strength has driven her to join the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada's team in training. She will run the Bluenose half marathon in May, while also fundraising for a cure.

“Everybody at the Leukemia & Lymphoma team in training runs, they have a story,” says Keough. “What I love most is that none of us know the circumstances behind why we are there but there's certainly more to be told then what meets the eye, and that's what I love.”  

Keough hasn't been dealt the easiest hand of cards in life, but she believes we aren't given anything we can't handle.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ana Almedia.