I'm fundraising for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

Pancreatic cancer is the deadliest common cancer. More than half of people die within three months of diagnosis. Survival rates for other cancers have improved dramatically in recent years. But decades of underfunding mean we still don’t have the tests and treatments to tackle this disease. People with pancreatic cancer have been overlooked and ignored for far too long.

At the beginning of my medical journey, it’s not exactly cancer but I feel quite attached to this fundraiser because I went through a stage where the cause of my ‘excruciating’ pain was my pancreas. It took months and days to finally find the root of my excruciating pain- to the point where I was losing weight in a short amount of time and I couldn’t walk standing tall at all. I also remember becoming jaundice and not being able to eat or drink as my pancreas was badly inflamed and so it also affected my lungs due to the inflammatory chemicals that are secreted into my bloodstream. These chemicals create inflammation throughout the body, including the lungs. As a result, there was an inflammatory type of reaction in my lungs called ARDS. This is where the small air sacs inside my lungs, alveoli, got inflamed and got filled with fluid causing acute respiratory distress syndrome. I remember a small sip of water or any drink would just make me spew and because I couldn’t eat anything in the past couple of days, it was also just liquid coming out.

Long story short I was in and out of Incentive Care Unit, where, one day I got told my surgery is booked in to then having my pancreas play up and because it kept flaring up they had to keep moving my surgery date back which meant more excruciating pain for me to experience. 

After doctors have found out the type of surgery I needed- “Pancreatojejunostomy procedure”. 

 I now have a cut just below my chest that looks like a side mouth/lips. Reminding me that I went through this, and even though ig was quite a long journey… I got through it all. 

Right now, as of this moment I just found out that one of my closest aunties has been given a maximum of 6 months to live with this unwanted sickness. I knew she had it for a while now but all I could do is to hope and “try” to be positive for her.

That’s why I’m fundraising for Pancreatic Cancer UK and I'd really appreciate your support. Your donations will support vital, world-leading research, ensure specialist nurses are there to take more calls and fuel campaigns to drive positive change.

Together, we will bring more than hope to people affected by pancreatic cancer.