Annie De’Ath says her diagnosis has been ‘devastating’ for her
A mum-of-two who blamed her sickness and lack of appetite on stress was later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Now, Annie De’Ath from Tunbridge Wells is hoping to get specialist treatment in Portugal following the “devastating” diagnosis.
The 58-year-old first began experiencing symptoms in January, around the time she had put her house on the market. She said: “I thought it might be stress, and then my daughter pushed me to go to the doctor.
“I had an appointment mid-February with the GP, and he advised I had an ultrasound, and then they saw this lump in my pancreas. It’s all devastating. I thought I was going to die the next day. I’m otherwise very healthy – I’ve never even had a day off sick in my life from work. I don’t even get colds or anything.”
After a series of scans and endoscopies in March, the following month, she began chemotherapy. “I had a port-a-cath put in my chest to administer the chemo, and then I started my treatment through the wound, which was horrendous.
“For six months, every other week, you have to go and sit in a hospital for a day. But, with this type of cancer, surgery is really the only chance of any sort of cure, otherwise, they just keep it at bay, ” said Annie.
Due to the complexity of her tumour, doctors in the UK will not operate on it. But after a consultation with Professor Markus Buchler at the Botton-Champalimaud Pancreatic Cancer Centre in Lisbon, she has finally been offered a route that gives her a fighting chance of survival.
In a video call last month, the world-leading pancreatic surgeon revealed he believes he can operate. But Annie must have urgent chemotherapy again to bring the cancer under control.
She said: “We just need to get the tumour markers down to a certain level and then he’ll operate. It’s not wise to operate in a sort of growing tumour situation, so basically, when they hit a certain level, I’ve got to get on a plane straight away.”
The full cost of the treatment is “more than she can imagine”, but a fundraiser has been set up by her colleagues at Sackville School in Hildenborough, where Annie has worked as a teaching assistant for over 15 years.
A target of £25,000 to help support urgent chemotherapy, the surgery in Lisbon and the associated travel and aftercare. At the time of writing, £17,500 has been raised. Annie said: “I just can’t not do it. I’m trying to be positive. I’m walking a lot, I’m trying to keep moving and just trying to do my best, which is all you can really do, isn’t it? In any situation in life.
In a warning to others following her shock diagnosis, she added: “Don’t ignore things. I love eating, I’m slim and active, but I love food and the loss of appetite and nausea was a bit odd for me.
“I just thought, ‘Oh what’s going on?’, and you can have loads more symptoms than that. But obviously it’s all still going on in my body so just don’t ignore anything that’s unusual for your own body. Go and get it checked out.”
You can donate at https://www.gofundme.com/f/annie-needs-immediate-chemo-and-surgery-time-is-critical
