Mum told she had nothing to worry about given just weeks to live
A mum told her stomach pain was nothing to worry about was shocked when she later learned she had pancreatic cancer and had weeks to live.
Danielle Connor, 33, from Mountcastle in Edinburgh, began suffering from a sore back and abdominal pain in January this year.
When she lost her appetite and made frequent trips to the bathroom she phoned her doctor who believed she had food poisoning, indigestion or an ulcer.
Days later she started to experience jaundice and was rushed to hospital who found a cyst on her pancreas.
Tests later found they were cancerous.
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Her best friend Nicola MacDonald, said Danielle and her family were "heartbroken".
Danielle is sharing her story through hr Instagram page (mypancreaticcancerjourney / Instagram)She told Edinburgh Live: “I remember when she phoned me to tell me it was a tumour and it might be cancerous, she got discharged but was given a cocktail of tablets everyday to take and to see how things progressed.
“Two weeks later she had a consultation at the Western General, myself, Rob and her mum and dad all went along for support, but she was told that she had stage three pancreatic cancer.
“It was advised she would go through the strongest chemo treatment that she could deal with - the NHS were great and threw everything at her.
“Sadly Danielle could only withstand two rounds of chemo as she had become so unwell and ended up with an infection and an abscess on her liver that required draining.
“Doctors had already given her several blood transfusions due to the chemo treatment but they explored whether it would help to have another as her white blood cell count was also very high.
Danielle is now receiving palliative care at home (mypancreaticcancerjourney / Instagram)“She underwent a CT scan three weeks ago and that is when she was told that the tumour had grown and that the abscess had returned double the size.
“Danielle could not continue with chemo as she did not have the strength in her body but on May 2 her oncologist told us that her cancer was terminal and that her time now is precious.
“There was not anything they could do to save her and so she went back home on Wednesday 3 from hospital to receive palliative care surrounded by her family.”
Danielle has set up an Instagram to share her journey and to raise awareness around pancreatic cancer.
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She hopes to motivate others to pursue health check ups if they experience similar symptoms.
In her latest update she wrote: “My time now is precious and I am spending the time I have left with my family and friends and filling my days with my own wishes and what makes me happy.
“I was officially discharged from hospital for the final time on Wednesday 3rd May and I am now at home under the care of the Palliative Care Team.”
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