Pancreatic cancer survivor shares her story after undergoing lifesaving surgery at Oxford Churchill Hospital

There is one cruel difference. Four out of the five names above died from the disease. Due to the late diagnosis rate and vague symptoms, more than half of people with pancreatic cancer will die within three months of receiving the news.

Sixty-year-old Helen French, from West Berkshire, is in the rare ten per cent of survivors. Her tumour was found early which meant she was able to undergo lifesaving surgery at Oxford Churchill Hospital to get it removed before it had spread elsewhere.

As November marks Pancreatic Awareness Month, Helen is sharing her story to raise awareness about the warning signs.

My life changed in the space of a few weeks when I was given the news no one wants to get from a consultant: "We've found a tumour and it could be cancer."

This time last year, I took my health for granted and would have thought walking 24 miles in a day was an easy feat.

Fast-forward a year and after a shock cancer diagnosis, emergency surgery and now undergoing chemotherapy, I'll never make that mistake again.

This month, I'll be walking every weekend to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer UK and this is why.

My story starts in April when I started experiencing indigestion, acid reflux and had a continual pain just below the right side of my rib cage. I wasn’t particularly worried as I’d had these same symptoms in 2020. I visited my doctor and was prescribed some indigestion medicine, which took away the indigestion and acid reflux but not the pain.

But then my hands and feet started to get really itchy. I’d been walking my dogs in fields of cut grass so put this down to pollen.

On my 60th birthday in early June, my grown-up children took me for a fantastic dinner at a Michelin-star restaurant that things and things to a more dramatic turn. I found I could hardly eat a thing which made me feel absolutely terrible as they’d gone to a lot of effort to arrange for me to have a memorable day - it certainly was but not in the intended way.

Helen French, 60, is fundraising for Pancreatic Cancer UK after undergoing emergency life-saving surgery to remove her pancreas this year. Only ten per cent of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer are able to be operated on. The general five-year

I started to feel unwell during the meal - which unfortunately was a seven-course tasting menu. I couldn't eat it and had to pop to the bathroom to be sick. After telling my daughters I'd been feeling unwell, they encouraged me to go to the doctors. I realised I've perhaps underestimated how bad my symptoms were.

The following Monday, I relayed my symptoms to my GP and was told it was probably gallstones rather than 'anything sinister'. I was referred for a gastroscopy, given some more anti-indigestion pills.

Two weeks later, my skin started to turn a strange colour. I’d been out in the sun quite a bit and thought it was the light in my home and put it to the back of my mind.

It was the reaction of my daughters when I went to visit my newborn granddaughter that I realised something was wrong. My skin had turned Marge Simpson-style yellow and my children urged me to contact 111.

The following day, I had a face-to-face appointment with my GP who immediately confirmed I had jaundice. Because he couldn’t identify the reason, he referred me to the Great Western Hospital, Swindon.

After a full day waiting in hospital, I had blood tests, an ultrasound scan and eventually a CT scan. The latter revealed there was a 'well-defined growth' on the head of my pancreas. The consultant, Mr Lim, and his team gave me the news straight - there was no sugar coating such devastating news. It could be cancer.

Oxford Churchill Hospital

As if having a potentially life-threatening condition wasn't enough to keep me busy, I was moving house at the same time so juggling phone calls with lawyers and estate agents around my health worries.

On the day I moved in, Mr Lim called to confirm my case had been passed a specialist pancreatic surgeon at Churchill Oxford University Hospital and I should hear from them very soon. I didn’t know at this point whether the speed was a comfort or concern. Did this growth mean I had a very short time to live?

The 'very soon' turned out to be the next week. I had a consultation with a fantastic surgeon, Mr Udupa, who talked me and my eldest daughter through my options. I could undergo the Whipple’s procedure surgery, which would see part of my pancreas removed, they could fit a stent in my bile duct to reduce the symptoms of jaundice or they could do nothing.

It was a scary thought to undergo surgery but when it is a choice of life or potentially an early death, it was an obvious - if nervewracking - decision. When my daughter asked how long I would have to wait, he said they had a cancellation for the following Tuesday. The speed and the amount of planning that had gone into my care by the NHS this absolutely blew me away. It all felt so surreal - and to be honest, it still does.

Helen French is raising money for Pancreatic Cancer UK this month. To donate, visit: https://bit.ly/2ZRp45v

Helen French is raising money for Pancreatic Cancer UK this month. Pictured: Recovering after surgery at Oxford Churchill Hospital

After an eight hours of surgery on July 6, I was back up on my feet the next day. I was wired up to drips, pain relief and drains, but importantly the tumour had been removed - along with my pancreas.

I spent almost two weeks at Churchill receiving the most fantastic care that I could imagine which included being given advice from specialist nurses. The removal of my pancreas meant I immediately became diabetic and had to adjust to a new life of injections and monitoring blood sugar levels.

Thankfully, the surgeon was able to save my spleen which means I don't need to take daily antibiotics in addition to the daily insulin and pancreatic enzyme replacement pills.

The results of the pathology report analysing the tumour found the growth was a localised cancer which hadn’t visibly spread to lymph nodes or other organs. The HeptoBilary team at Oxford recommended that I was referred for chemotherapy. I am now in the midst of a six-month course of chemo which is going well, so far.

Helen is raising money for Pancreatic Cancer Uk this month. To donate, visit: https://bit.ly/2ZRp45v

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of the disease and cruelly takes people away from their families before they've had the chance to come to terms with their diagnosis.

I feel so very fortunate to be one of the very few people - ten out of 100 - who are able to have surgery. The vast majority of people in the UK who are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer die within three months. Unlike other types of cancer, there is no screening in place for pancreatic cancer and the symptoms can be so vague and unspecific.

I am sharing my story in the hope of raising awareness about this disease. I'd encourage anyone reading this with continual acid reflux, which doesn’t go away with medicine, or any other symptoms mentioned, to see your doctor as soon as possible - you never know, it might just save your life.

I am walking 24 miles this month to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month. To donate, visit https://bit.ly/2ZRp45v.

• For help and advice about the pancreatic cancer, contact Pancreatic Cancer UK's free support line on 0808 801 0707. Anyone concerned about their symptoms should contact their GP or call 111 in a non-emergency.

What are the main symptoms of pancreatic cancer? 

The NHS website states that pancreatic cancer may not have any symptoms, or they might be hard to spot. Symptoms of pancreatic cancer can include:

• the whites of your eyes or your skin turn yellow (jaundice), you may also have itchy skin, darker pee and paler poo than usual
• loss of appetite or losing weight without trying to
• feeling tired or having no energy
• a high temperature, or feeling hot or shivery
• Other symptoms can affect your digestion, such as:
• feeling or being sick
• diarrhoea or constipation, or other changes in your poo
• pain at the top part of your tummy and your back, which may feel worse when you are eating or lying down and better when you lean forward
• symptoms of indigestion, such as feeling bloated

If you have another condition like irritable bowel syndrome you may get symptoms like these regularly.

You might find you get used to them. But it's important to be checked by a GP if your symptoms change, get worse, or do not feel normal for you.

Facts about pancreatic cancer 

• Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival of all the 20 common cancers. Less than seven per cent of people with pancreatic cancer will survive beyond five years in the UK. 

• Five-year survival for pancreatic cancer has improved very little since the early 1970s.

• Around 10,500 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer per year in the UK. Around 8,924 people die every year of the disease in the UK.

• Surgery is the only treatment that can save lives, yet less than ten per cent of people with pancreatic cancer have it.

• Pancreatic cancer research has historically been underfunded. The disease attracts just 3 per cent of the UK cancer research budget. (Source: NCRI 2018/2019)