Susan Lambert

Susan was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which had spread to her liver at the end of July 2022. Until shortly before she was diagnosed, she had no symptoms of the cancer growing inside of her. She fought it bravely with a wish to see our young son James grow up but sadly passed away in February 2023 a few months before her 47th birthday.

Surgery was not an option for Susan. Jaundice meant that she had to wait till October to start chemotherapy. After her first round of chemotherapy, she developed an infection that resulted in a stay in hospital for 3 weeks. This delay to her treatment meant the cancer continued growing.

She was able to resume chemotherapy again in mid-December but was forced to stay in hospital over Christmas due to another infection. She was able to spend the New Year with her family who all had hopes that chemotherapy would keep the cancer at bay.

The New Year saw her have another 3 rounds of chemotherapy with a CT scan booked to see how well the chemotherapy was working. Unfortunately, the aggressive cancer was winning and in early February, before the CT scan, she was admitted to her local hospital. Unfortunately, further cancer treatment was not an option as it had progressed too far. The hospital took loving care of her.

Pancreatic cancer is the 5th most common cancer in the UK with almost 10,000 deaths per year. Rates of this disease are rising in younger people particularly women. Most pancreatic cancers are only diagnosed as a result of emergency presentation, like Susan was.

Funding research into pancreatic cancer is the only way that one day that other families facing this disease may have a better outcome. Early diagnosis and more treatment options are needed to tackle this disease. Susan wanted to help others who might suffer this devastating illness so any donations to Pancreatic Cancer UK would be greatly appreciated.