A single Scottish mum is bravely battling pancreatic cancer and is urging the public to be vigilant of the illness’s early indicators.
Claire Blair, 44, says she was diagnosed in September 2022 after suffering six months of symptoms after her first doctor’s appointment.
She says her condition was initially overlooked by medics, which tragically allowed the cancer to advance from her pancreas to her liver. This led to the heart-wrenching point where she had to break the news to her teenage son Thomas, 14, and her younger daughter Aimee, who is set to turn 12 in July.
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Claire, who works as an administrative coordinator and lives in Inverkeithing, Fife, is now on a mission to spread the word about the early warning signs of pancreatic cancer that she encountered.
“I first went to the GP in March 2022, I had a few symptoms then,” Claire said. “I was rapidly losing weight. I was doing Slimming World but at the time even if I ate junk for a whole week, I would still lose a lot of weight every week.”, reports Gloucestershire Live.
“(I had) constipation as well as pains in my tummy. That started that March and the doctor referred me straight away to a bowel specialist.”
Initially thought to have bowel cancer by the specialist, it wasn’t until after this possibility was ruled out that a CT scan revealed an anomaly on her pancreas, which a subsequent biopsy confirmed to be tumorous.
Claire recalls the relentless stomach pain as the initial warning sign and urges anyone with similar symptoms to seek medical advice. “It was like a throbbing pain. It was there constantly,” she said.
Claire, looking back on her ordeal, pinpointed constant stomach discomfort as the first red flag and now strongly recommends that anyone experiencing the same should get checked by their GP. She described the sensation, saying, “It didn’t go away no matter how many paracetamols or co-codamol or anything,” she said.
“It just wouldn’t go away.”
She raised an important point about the lack of awareness among general practitioners regarding pancreatic cancer symptoms: “With pancreatic cancer, a lot of GPs don’t know the symptoms. So they are trying to get GPs to understand what the early symptoms are, because for most people, by the time they get these symptoms it’s too late.”
In the UK, around 10,500 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year. Although potentially curable with surgery when detected early, the disease often requires prompt diagnosis to prevent metastasis to other organs.
Unfortunately, there are currently no screening tests or early detection methods available to help doctors identify this cancer in its nascent stages.
The pancreas, tucked away behind the stomach, plays a vital role in our body by producing digestive enzymes and insulin to control blood sugar. However, pancreatic cancer symptoms can be deceptively mild, often leading to devastatingly late diagnoses, with about half of patients dying within three months of detection.
Claire’s fight against cancer was severely impacted by delayed test results, which robbed her of the chance for potentially life-saving surgery. “They had originally told me that I would get the results within two weeks, but it actually turned into seven weeks,” she revealed.
“By that point it had spread to my liver. I had originally been told that I could get surgery to remove it from the pancreas. But it was too late.”
Despite enduring a gruelling bi-weekly chemotherapy regime for four months, Claire suffered greatly. Initially, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope as her scans in May showed no trace of the tumours.
Yet, a routine check-up in February delivered the devastating blow that the cancer had returned.
“They had arranged for me to get the same chemotherapy as I had done before, but I took a really bad reaction to it and ended up in the high dependency ward for a couple of days,” Claire recounted. Presently, she is on chemotherapy tablets in an attempt to keep the tumour at bay, facing an uncertain future regarding their effectiveness.
In a heartfelt bid to make a difference, Claire has become the face of Pancreatic Cancer UK’s 2024 Double Donation Appeal. The campaign promises that any donations made to Pancreatic Cancer UK by 2 July will be doubled by philanthropic supporters, up to £170,000.
This initiative is vital for funding pioneering treatments for pancreatic cancer, which alarmingly receives a mere 3% of the yearly cancer research budget.
Claire appears in a poignant YouTube video produced by the charity, featuring alongside Gavin and Stacey actress Alison Steadman, to help raise funds for this devastating disease.
“It’s one of the deadliest cancers and one of the most underfunded as well which is why we are trying to get it more recognised,” said Claire. “If I can help even one person to get in there and get diagnosed as early as possible (it will help). I’m really, really honoured to be asked and to take part in the Double Donation Appeal. If you have any of the symptoms, go and get it checked as soon as possible.”
Despite facing her own battle with the illness, Claire remains dedicated to spending precious time with her loved ones and making lasting memories. “My daughter is great. She’s like me and gets on with it,” she shared.
“My son, though, he took it really bad. He’s been struggling.”
She also offers advice about seeking information: “When you Google it, it’s not good reading. So we’re trying to encourage him not to read things on the internet. He’s getting there. He still comes home every lunchtime to check on me.”
In anticipation of a family holiday, Claire expressed, “We are looking at going to Greece at the end of September, me and the kids. To go to Rhodes. We’ve never been there. The forecast says it will still be in the late 20s in September. So I will take them there.”
For additional guidance and advice, Pancreatic Cancer UK offers crucial help through their Support Line, manned by specialist nurses. It provides confidential information and expert consultation.
For added support, call free on 0808 801 0707 or visit the Pancreatic UK website for support.
Sarah Carter is a health and wellness expert residing in the UK. With a background in healthcare, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, promoting healthier living for readers.
