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WHEN she started losing weight, Liz Oakley decided to join a slimming clbad.
Feeling "satisfied" with having resisted her favorite treats at Christmas, she was delighted to lose weight, from a size 14 to a size 10.
But the truth turned out to be a lot more sinister.
In December 2017, Liz noticed that she was nauseated and that her pee was unusually dark. She promised to see a doctor at the beginning of the New Year.
The three-year-old mother was shocked to learn that her weight loss was not related to her new diet, but was actually a sign of pancreatic cancer.
The 65-year-old woman was informed that if she had left him much longer, it could have been too late.
"I am a resilient person, but it has made me lose all of its substance," she said. "It came from nowhere.
"I was referred to the hospital and the doctors said that they had found a blockage.
"I do not know how, but at that moment, I just knew.
"I told them it's a cancer, is not it?"
"I was told that I was at stage 2, but that if I had waited a lot longer, I would not be here now." It's how fast this disease is fast . "
Liz, who has three grown children, Louise, 35, Peter, 33, and Aiden, 30, have had cancer twice before, right bad in 2007, and left in 2012.
After radiotherapy and finally a mastectomy, she enjoyed good years of health until she started losing weight by the end of 2017.
I was told that I was in phase 2, but if I waited much longer, I would not be here anymore. It's the speed with which this disease
Liz Oakley
She explained, "I had joined a slimming group a few months ago and I was so happy because I thought it worked very well.
"In fact, I felt pretty satisfied, telling people that it was because I had not eaten very fine pie before Christmas, as usual."
At the end of December, Liz, from East Kilbride, Scotland, feeling nauseated and starved, noticed that her urine was very dark.
She added, "I thought," I'm going to spend Christmas, then make an appointment with the doctor.
"Now I look back and think," Why did you wait? "
"But I did not know then that my symptoms could be pancreatic cancer."
After her daughter noticed her strange pallor in January 2018, Liz knew she needed to see a doctor.
She continued, "She asked me why I was so yellow / orange.
"I wore tinted glbades, so I did not really notice it, but when I removed them, I felt like I was caught in the tango."
Calling the non-urgent NHS 111 number, she went to the Medway Hospital in Kent, where she was immediately admitted.
The doctors went into action by performing a series of tests and quickly discovering a disturbing blockage in his pancreas.
On January 6, she was officially diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and transferred to Kings College Hospital in South London for surgery.
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"The care I received was incredible. Everything went down and my appointment for surgery was taken right away, "Liz said.
"Back home after my diagnosis, I did what we all do and I looked for my health on Google.
"I was reading all those awful stories and poor survival statistics, and I just did not want it to be that way.
"I did not see much in people pbading by and coming out of the other side of the diagnosis.
"My way of dealing was simply to isolate myself from these statistics."
Barely 12 days after her diagnosis, Liz underwent surgery to remove her pancreas, duodenum, gallbladder and bile ducts.
While she remains eternally grateful to have been seen so quickly, she was surprised at her rapid deterioration as she waited for her operation.
"I lost more than two stones in a few weeks. I was shocked to see what frail old woman I became, "she said.
"But I feel so lucky to have received the care I've done.
The most deadly cancer because it's so hard to spot
PANCREATIC cancer is the most lethal form of the disease in the UK because it is so difficult to detect.
The average survival rate in Europe is only 5%, with only 1% living for ten years or more after diagnosis.
One of the reasons for these poor prospects is that pancreatic cancer tends to be diagnosed too late.
By the time you have symptoms, have seen your GP and have been diagnosed, the cancer tends to be quite advanced.
That's why knowing the signs is so important, it means that an early diagnosis is more likely.
The most common symptoms to watch for include:
- stomach pain
- Back ache
- unexplained weight loss
- indigestion
- loss of appetite
- changes in bowel habits: this includes steatorrhea (pale, smelly stools that may float), diarrhea (loose, loose stools) or constipation (problems with bowel opening)
- Jaundice: The most common signs of jaundice are that your skin and white of your yellows. It also causes dark urine, pale stools and itchy skin
Difficulty swallowing: Some people may have difficulty swallowing food or may cough or choke when they eat, bring food or feel food stuck in their throat - Diabetes recently diagnosed: the pancreas produces insulin, which helps control the amount of sugar in the blood. Cancer can prevent it from working properly, which means that it might not produce enough insulin and cause diabetes
- extreme tiredness (tiredness)
- to feel exceptionally full after the food
- clots of blood in a vein
For more information, visit Pancreatic Cancer UK
"I want people to know that it is possible. You've read about misdiagnosis and fraud, but I'm living proof that you can survive if everything is done right. "
After her surgery, Liz had six months of chemotherapy and then chemo-radiotherapy, a combination of treatments, to kill the cancer cells found at the margins of the area where the tumor had been surgically removed.
Now, though, although she continues to be examined regularly and meets with consultants to discuss her care, she no longer has treatment.
Because of the precarious position of its tumor near some blood vessels, doctors can not guarantee that the disease – which is not thought to be related to bad cancer – has disappeared – but for the first time. moment, Liz feels positive.
Since her diagnosis, she is supported by the Pancreatic Cancer UK Charitable Foundation and supports their call to the government to treat all patients with pancreatic cancer within 20 days of diagnosis.
And she hopes her story will raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer – back and abdominal pain, unexplained weight loss, changes in bowel habits, jaundice, nausea, and digestive problems.
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My biggest fear is that cancer will take me from my kids as it took Rach to Freddie
She said: "People know the signs of bad cancer, the signs of the testicles, they have to see a doctor if they find a lump – but they are not aware of pancreatic cancer. I did not know that my symptoms could be related.
"Pancreatic cancer is appalling and makes more victims than it leaves, but not all stories are sinister. I have been doing things for a year now that I never thought I could do. "
She added, "If it happens five years later, it's five years longer than I would have had. I absolutely believe that we can beat that if more people are diagnosed faster. "
Pancreatic Cancer UK is calling on the UK government and the devolved administrations to set a new ambition: to treat all patients with pancreatic cancer within 20 days by 2024.
More than 90,000 people have already signed the "Demand faster treatment" petition, which will end on February 18th.
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