David Jess

Dave was my husband and my best friend. He lived life to the full and was always ready with a joke or a funny story .He was fit, didn’t drink or smoke. He loved nature and the outdoors. He`d almost completed one of his life goals to climb all the Munro`s in Scotland (hills 3000ft and over ).Had completed 264 and only had 18 to do .

He was diagnosed with depression in Jan 2021. This was uncharacteristic of Dave. He struggled with "brain fog" and fatigue. He lost his confidence . Dave received psychological support and slowly his confidence came back but the lack of energy and brain fog persisted. He struggled with all the things he had previously easily enjoyed.

Eventually on Dec 6th 2021 he was admitted with a 4 day history of abdominal pain . His scan showed extensive cancer of his pancreas, his liver and his peritoneum and a malignant pleural effusion. His symptoms didn’t respond to the usual medication and he was deteriorating quickly . I contacted the specialist nurse at PCUK as I was desperate to get something done to make him more comfortable . She answered the phone in one ring and quickly grasped the difficulties that Dave was experiencing . She gave me valuable advice and that led to me requesting my husband was transferred to the specialist palliative unit so they could manage the complex symptoms he was having. Dave was transferred the next day but died 2 days later , 12 days after diagnosis.

He is a huge loss in our lives . We want to support PCUK to help others facing this illness and also to fund essential research to find ways to diagnose pancreatic cancer earlier. Earlier diagnosis will enable people to get a chance to get treatment to fight the disease.

We collected donations at his celebration and a Just Giving page was set up . More fundraising events are planned in Dave`s memory . This tribute page will enable donations to continue to be made to support Pancreatic Cancer UK `s important work.